Bonanza was a thriving mining town of 600 in 1891. It was built along the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River, and by the end of the 19th century it was a virtual ghost town. Yet its small cemetery remains, although much of that is in ruins as well. I photographed this tombstone because it survives, while its wooden enclosure has crumbled in decay around it. I spot metered on the white marble, allowing the rest of the image to slide into darkness. The gentleman under the stone died in nearby Custer, Idaho in 1888. Born in 1847 in Illinois, he became a storekeeper in Custer. He perished at the age of 41. While all seems to crumble around it, the marble stone incongruously seems as new as the day it was raised to his memory. (See the next image at: http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/125665800 , for an entirely different outcome.)