One of our allies at Adams, a wonderful lady by the name of Berna, did a little research for us. She was the one who had originally mentioned the statue to us, and when we returned to her with the proof of the date of death, she got really excited.
As it turns out, it's an old tradition to put a non-existent date of death on witch's graves. It's believed that if you put a real date (like october 31st) the witch will be able to return to the living world when that day rolls around. So, to keep her where she belongs, those who buried her put October 36th so that she would never be able to return to us.
Wihelmina Becker was buried in a family plot that seemed to consist of her husband and their four children, with an aunt or two thrown into the mix. It's interesting when you realize that it was only her grave out of the six that had the nonexistent date.
So, thanks to our good friend Berna, we've got one of Alamosa's many mysteries solved.
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