22 Nebraskaland • December 2021
the statehouse, residing in Lincoln at
the time, and a few years as a banker in
Fairbury. But it is believed that his main
occupation later in life was as a farmer.
McDowell had health issues and
escaped to the Pacific Coast for a time
to address them. His return in January
of 1914 was noteworthy enough to take
up one sentence in the community news
section of the local newspaper. The
following year, at age 58 and looking to
improve his health, he picked up his tools
and began to hammer, chisel and carve
away at the base of a rounded, stone
outcropping on a north-facing hill above
Rose Creek on one of his farms.
By the time he was done 10 years
later, he had removed roughly 45 cubic
yards of sandstone to create his two-
room masterpiece. The outer room, an
antechamber, has an intricately carved
domed ceiling. The inner room, the
burial chamber, has benches carved
on either side to hold the caskets of
McDowell and his neighbor, Cliff Hunter,
who reportedly provided McDowell with
some assistance in the project.
For the finishing touches, McDowell
hired a tombstone carver from Fairbury
to engrave some inscriptions on the
rocks around the tomb. These include
"Mausoleum" above the door, as well as
"Lookout Mountain," "Lover's Lane,"
"Puplit Rock" and "Devil's Slide."
As word of McDowell's creation
spread, it drew visitors and became
a picnic ground. Some chose to leave
their own mark, engraving names or
initials and dates in the stone, both
inside the tomb and on the rocks
around it, a tradition that continues
to this day. McDowell didn't appreciate
this and fashioned a gate over the
entrance to protect the inside of the
tomb; he may have even closed it to
A second arched doorway 6 feet high
and 2½ feet wide leads to the burial
chamber measuring 9 feet deep and
6½ feet wide with a less intricate
domed ceiling that tops out at 9½
feet. On each side a bench is carved
into a bowed wall, one 6½ feet long
and the other 7, intended to hold the
bodies or caskets of McDowell and his
neighbor, Cliff Hunter.
