Chilo, Ohio - Grave of Wagon Train Cholera Girl

Diana, daughter of Lemuel and Sarali Whitney, is the only person known to be buried in Ohio who died on a wagon train traveling west. A tree carved into a cross was originally a sapling placed here to mark the burial site of the 16 year old girl. She is believed to have died suddenly of cholera. In a later summer, a tablet was placed on Diana's grave to remind those who pause to read of a humble sacrifice woven into our country's greatness.

The Tablet reads "In Diana's memory There rests here in the quiet beauty of the valley of the Ohio the dust of a young girl. On July 23, 1823 a wagon train creaking toward the west came to a halt close by. When the train moved forward, one of its party had been left along the trail as a hostage against time. Diana Whitney, sleeping where the morning sun paints with strange scarlets and magic golds the surface of the River, was 16 on that summer day long ago. Diana, daughter of Lemuel and Sarali Whitney - died July 23, 1823 aged 16 years." [Dana Clark, 12/08/2005]