The cemetery in Madrid is definitely on the funky side, but for those who know about the eclectic mix of people who call the community home, it makes sense.

There are two parts to the cemetery, just as Madrid's history has two distinct eras. One side is a traditional graveyard with stones dating back to the early 1900s, the settlement's mining days.

The newer part is a hodgepodge of items in various states of decay as they succumb to the weather. This is the part that was taken by a unique group of hippies, artists and motorcycle riders who have revitalized Madrid since the end of the mining days. For those who haven't been there, the art community is a kind of portal into the counter-culture of hippies and bikers from the 1960s and '70s. Each weekend the streets are clogged with cars, tour buses and tourists.

Sitting atop a mesa, the graveyard is almost a quiet respite of sun-baked earth. It has a view of the mountains and the art shops and cantinas along the main drag. The tributes to friends and loved ones range from more traditional granite headstones to long descriptions etched in hardwood to a gas can to a helmet mounted on a sword, even a tailgate from an old Dodge pickup.

There are also mementos left at the sites, like hiking boots, toys and the tokens Alcoholics Anonymous gives out for staying sober.

Becky Schnelker, the curator for the Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, said the cemetery is strangely touching.

"It's clearly an outpouring of appreciation," she said. "Each (grave) shows a sense of multiple visitors."

Schnelker was told about the graveyard by her neighbor, who found it while geocaching, a high-tech treasure-hunting game played with a GPS device. Apparently one of the caches is near the graveyard.

"(My neighbor) told me it was something I'd be interested in, and they were right," she said.

Even the briefest of walks

through the cemetery will give one the feeling that there are real individuals being remembered with a few quirks, qualities and follies on display, even after they have gone. Some of the stories told about some of the people in the cemetery are also quite lively, too.

One of the markers is a saw blade with "Sunshine" cut into it. It belongs to a man who wandered the area and lived by eating the animals he killed with a shotgun, according to Booker Weems, who owns the graveyard. Weems got it along with his house in the 1980s.

He said Sunshine had some sort of drug problem, but then "got his act together" and bought a van. Unfortunately, shortly after that he was killed in a car accident.

Another marker, probably one of the more striking in the cemetery, is a military gas can inscribed with the name "Larry Titus" and the words, "Going for Gas." There's a Buddha on top of the can and people have left other small tributes at the marker.

"He was always on the road and would always run out of gas," Weems said.

Weems doesn't charge a fee for burial. He said he treats the area as public domain, adding that he knew most, but not all, of those buried in the newer section of the graveyard.

Dick Thomas, a retired hydrologist who lives on the opposite side of the graveyard, said he once saw a group of people out digging in the middle of the night. He suspected they were grave robbers or some other brand of miscreant.

"They looked like outlaw types," he said.

He later found out they were burying their friend, adding that the "outlaw" bikers often only look rough but are actually quite personable, once you get to know them.

"It was some guy, he was part of a motorcycle gang," Thomas said.

Anyone with information about the graveyard, either the old or the new section, can contact Schnelker, a member of the East Mountain Historical Society who is compiling a history of the cemetery. E-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .