Mount Carmel Center outside of Waco, Texas memorialized

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Memorializing Mount Carmel Center outside of Waco, Texas
All photos and text by matthew wittmer
Updated January 31, 2010

Memorial model of Mount Carmel created by Matthew Wittmer, 1999.
Memorial model of Mount Carmel, built by Matthew Wittmer in 1999.

"From start to finish, the unraveling of Waco would not be a work brought about by government and major institutions,
but by a handful of creative individualists who did their own thing."

David Hardy and Rex Kimball, p. 110 from:

This Is Not An Assault: Penetrating the Web of Official Lies Regarding the Waco Incident

Philadelphia:Xlibris, 2001, ISBN: 0-7388-6342-4, LC# 2001116314

Below are links to material on this page for faster reference access.

        Traces of the Mount Carmel Community: Documentation and Access: Link to my 2009 essay about this community published by the journal Nova Religio.
        The Mt. Carmel Center flag: My design of the center's flag based on video and photograph comparative analysis of flag imagery photographed in 1993.
        Introduction to Mount Carmel: A brief encapsulation of the events of 1993 at Mt. Carmel.
        Driving to the Mt. Carmel video: A five-minute video of the drive to the property I created in February of 2009.
        My Involvement: A brief narrative with a few photographs I have taken of the property over the years.
                Scrolling 360 degree view: Panoramic circular view of the property made from photos I took in the year 2000.
                More photos of my model
                Chart A: My annotated chart that maps event plot points pertaining to the history behind the Mount Carmel property. PDF file download - updated 8/1/09.
        References: A list of information sources I have consulted.
        Mount Carmel Memorial Tree & Stone Layout: Rubbings of names and a map to how survivors memorialized community members killed in 1993.
                1995-2009 map of memorial trees and name stones
        McLennan County Restland Cemetery Burials: Images of cemetery headstones of Mount Carmel community members buried at Restland in the city of Waco.

The Mt. Carmel Center flag

woodcut of Mt. Carmel Center flag by m. wittmer, April 2009

Matthew Wittmer created this image from measurements and observation of many clips taken of the flag during the events of 1993.

Both images were created by Matthew Wittmer.

The left image is of a color woodcut created for the 2009 April 19th memorial service. The image on the right was created in June of 2009 through careful study of the news feed footage and photos taken during the 1993 siege in which the flag can be seen with varying degrees of clarity. Care has been taken to recreate as best as possible the likely proportional relationships that existed in the original flag with the understanding that most images of the flag were captured from cameras that were miles away with zoom lenses, at various vantage points, and with the wind blowing the flag at various angles in all kinds of different light situations.
The snake on the original flag was comprised of a reflective silver material that is evidenced by some of the evening footage where it glistens brightly as the setting sun illuminates the silver. The flag itself was made of satin, as per my discussion with one person who worked on it. I am still studying footage that will likely clarify the design of the small "seals" that I see as red at this point. The fixture at the top of the flag pole appears to be a hollow Star of David ornament as well. I will update my designs as I acquire more footage of the flag to incorporate any differences that are not reflected in my design above.

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Introduction to Mt. Carmel

This is a five-minute video I shot in February of 2009 that highlights what
the drive looks like traveling to the Mount Carmel property from Waco, Texas.

The Mount Carmel property from Farm Road 2491 in December of 2000.
Mount Carmel property off in the distance from Farm Road 2491 in December of 2000.
The new chapel can be seen slightly to the center right.

The Mount Carmel property in August 2008 from Farm Road 2491. The tip of the new chapel is behind trees, center frame.

Mount Carmel property off in the distance from Farm Road 2491 in August of 2008.

A few miles east of Waco, Texas there lies 77 acres of land that is owned by the General Association of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. On that land, there have been several buildings constructed since 1957 or possibly even 1945. Those who have resided on the property over the decades have referred to the land by a few names, but a recurring title has been Mount Carmel or Mt. Carmel. Those who resided and studied with David Koresh from the early 1980's onward refer to the property and the residential complex they built there as Mt. Carmel or Mount Carmel.

Those who built and lived in this particular residential complex along with David became the focus of worldwide attention in 1993 when they were raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), an agency in the Justice Department.

The raid (later determined by many sources to have been conducted for publicity to gain the positive press for the ATF just prior to the then upcoming budget appropriation hearings that threatened to cut funding for the ATF) utilized significant gunfire that resulted in the killing of several Mt. Carmel residents. Four ATF agents were also killed from gunfire that day. Residents of Mt. Carmel claim they fired in self defense to protect themselves from the gunfire and explosives deployed by the raid agents that morning. It was later determined at the criminal jury trial in San Antonio jury that the agents in this raid had used "excessive force."

After the initial raid, the FBI positioned themselves as negotiators and law enforcement on the Mt. Carmel property by blocking off access to the property, surrounding the perimeter, and coordinating with various other agencies involved in the debacle. Many residents refused to leave Mt. Carmel for a variety of reasons, the primary being a distrust from being unfairly prosecuted due to the heavily biased media coverage that claimed they had murdered ATF agents. Residents also faced the threat of loosing their property if they left their building as this would have broken a five-year residential agreement the group committed to in 1988 (see Chart A on this website, end note c43). On 19 April 1993 government tanks demolished major sections of the complex while media coverage stated residents were still inside. The building caught fire around noon that day and burnt completely to the ground. The remains of at least 82 residents were recovered from the site which had been leveled by the fire. The FBI justified their tank demolition, as well as their gassing of the complex (both of which would have jeopardized the lives of children and infants if they were inside), as a tactic to scare the parents they said were inside the building in hopes it would convince parents to remove their children from the dangers the tanks and gas presented.

While the government's official ruling since the day of the fire has been that the residents of Mt. Carmel set the final fire, the eleven Mount Carmel survivors that were accused of murder and conspiracy to murder federal agents were each found not guilty in the 1994 San Antonio criminal jury trial. A significant degree of the public conscious continues to be grossly misinformed of the complexity of the events of the initial ATF raid, the events during the siege, and the history of Davidian and Branch Davidian movements on the Mt. Carmel property. This is because widespread awareness about the group's theology, history, and the survivors' perspectives have not been made as accessible for public consumption to the same degree as the government's perspective that has been eagerly fanned by mainstream media sources. Survivor and independent perspectives have not been privy to the widespread distribution channels the FBI utilized during the siege and continues to exert. Coverage during the siege remained highly sensational in character and grossly simplified due to various factors that include the demand for new updates and stories every day by news agencies covering the siege, the reliance on the tactical and government agencies for progress updates throughout the siege, as well as the lifestyle the community has been assumed to hold as a whole, which if true, runs counter to many mainstream culture beliefs. Press coverage of the community at the time and since the events have frequently misrepresented the nature of the evidence that remains and what has never been brought forth which suggests the public has not been adequately educated about the complexity and nature of many things that occurred on the property as well as between February and April of 1993.

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My involvement

The catalyst that inspired me to begin getting more directly involved with the people, documents and work that all pertains to this community (and the continual research into the events of 1993) was seeing the director's cut of a documentary by Michael McNulty, called Waco: The Rules of Engagement (the red-jacket, director's cut) in 1998. That version, as well as the mass produced version by Somford Entertainment, galvanized me with its juxtapositions of survivor accounts and footage taken throughout the raid, siege, and events on 19 April 1993.

Initially I was very interested in understanding more about how and why the building the FBI and press referred to as a "compound" was constructed. I began contacting survivors in 1999 and began visiting the property outside of Waco. As you can see from the video and photos above I have made several visits there over the years. Below are some photos from a December 2000 visit when some artifacts still remained from the siege and memorial efforts were being exhibited by survivor Clive Doyle.

Farm road sign just as you leave Waco heading for the property.

A new chapel was built where the old one stood by donations.

Remains of one of the buses that was present during the siege was still there in 2000
but has since been removed.

The new chapel rests approximately where the old one had been.
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The scrolling image above is a 360 degree pan of the property I took in 2000 (from just north of where the old flag pole had been) when a bus,
building memorial markers, the FBI house across the street, David's motorcycle, memorial trees and memorial stones were there. The first
four have since been removed and the memorial trees and stones have all been uprooted from their original placement.

In 2000 site markers were placed to
commemorate where parts of the
building once stood.

Text on the marker.

Text on second marker. These no longer exist on the property.

View from where front doors used to be of BATF house.

This photo was taken from where the front doors of David's Mt. Carmel used to exist. The former
Visitor's Center can be seen on the left and the house the ATF used is visible across the street.
This house was demolished in 2004. One of David Koresh's motorcycles can be seen here but
has since been moved.

This stone memorializes all the names of those killed in Mount Carmel Community in 1993.
Charles Pace moved it to the front of the property sometime after 2006 where he also
uprooted and stacked all of the individual name stones from the memorial trees.

The pool foundation remains intact and still holds water today. This photo was in 2000.

Amo Roden, who was on the property, had painted her version of events on the concrete sections left on the property.

Amo Roden, who was on the property, had painted her version of events on the concrete sections left on the property.

Branch Davidian Amo Roden painted her version of events on the pool's concrete foundation.
Her writing has eroded or been removed.

The underground storm shelter is also still there.

The underground storm shelter they were building at the time of the siege is also still there, mostly water logged.

This was the north end of the storm shelter in 2000.

I began asking survivors Clive and Edna Doyle about the Mt. Carmel complex in 1999. These inquiries interested me more in the lives of the survivors and in becoming more informed about what had happened at Mt. Carmel, as well as what is being done (and not done) to preserve the history of this community and what happened to them. Clive Doyle explained that the building was constructed from recycled lumber that had been re-used from smaller houses that had been constructed on the property after the property was acquired in 1957, however I have since come across aerial photographs of these structures that suggest those little houses could have been there as early as 1945. These houses were dismantled (according to Clive Doyle and Sheila Martin's accounts) with the specific intent to reuse the lumber from them to construct a larger, communal residential facility to cut down on travel time between houses for the elderly and to create a more community environment for when study sessions were held. Oversight of the design and construction was primarily directed by David Koresh. The people who knew the most about the history behind the building's construction were those who had built it and most were killed between February 28th and 19 April 1993.

Many sections of the building were used for various functions according to the survivors and functions changed as the complex expanded. The front lengthwise section accommodated men's and women's residential rooms. All other exterior structures were added for the growing needs of the community. These included a kitchen, which was behind the living quarters on the northern end, a gymnasium structure located behind the chapel, a four-story residential tower to the south of the kitchen, and a swimming pool just behind the kitchen.

Front of Mt. Carmel Memorial model in 2000.

This was the south side of the complex, the chapel is in the middle - in front of residential tower - and the gymnasium
is on the right behind the chapel.

The northeastern corner of the building area had a cement swimming pool. The central residential tower was four stories
high. To the north of that tower was a room used as a kitchen (sloped roof).

The front side of the building again. Here you can see the gymnasium door on the right.

The model on the stand I made for it for the Visitor's Center Museum in 2000. As you
might have noticed in some of my photos of the model, an additional residential room window
was added later on, as I had mistakenly left this out (floor one, north side) initially. The actual
building was less symmetrical than it appears upon closer study. For instance, I put too much
space between the second story windows above the front door. In reality, those windows
had much less space between them when compared to the second story windows on the
north end of the building.

The chapel side with gymnasium from the back side view on the old model stand.

The model was exhibited in two locations in Lincoln, Nebraska prior to it's six year
exhibit on the Mount Carmel property outside of Waco, Texas. Above it is pictured
in the Sheldon Memorial Art Museum. The stand I created here ensured
people saw the building at eye level.

Myself with the model in 1999.

Through developing observational drawings from video footage and photos of the complex, I constructed a model of the building to better understand the layout and function it provided the community, which is the model pictured in the photos on this web page. I also designed it to serve as a memorial to those who lost their lives during the events of 1993. The model was eventually installed on the Mt. Carmel property where a Visitor’s Center Museum was created and in operation between 1998 and 2006. The Visitor's Center Museum was managed by the survivors and a local supporter up until March of 2006. During that time it exhibited artifacts from the building, surviving photos of the life at the center prior to the siege, donated photos from family and friends of residents who belonged to the community, and defense exhibit photographs of the property and events/agents present throughout the siege. Tens of thousands of people traveling through the area have visited the property since 1993 and continue to visit to this day. My model served the survivors as a historical aid on the property from December of 2000 to September of 2006, much to the thanks of Clive and Edna Doyle who lived on the property at the time (Edna passed away in the summer of 2001) and expressed their desire for a model in their center. A mutual friend, Rollin, graciously helped in coordinating the installation process.

Due to ongoing differences in religious theology between the survivors and other local Branch Davidians that had not been in David Koresh's community, the survivors relinquished control of the property where so many of their loved ones had died. The property now is managed by a small group of Branch Davidians whose spokesperson is usually Charles Pace who views Koresh's teachings differently than those who lived and studied with David. Original materials and the theme of preserving the memory of the community under the theology of Koresh at the Visitor's Center Museum was therefore dismantled by Clive in the summer of 2006. Since that time the center has been empty.

In September of 2006 I picked up the model in Waco from Clive Doyle to help him save on storage expenses. In October of 2009, the model was accessioned by the Wittliff Collections at Texas State Univeristy-San Marcos where Ashes of Waco author Dick Reavis donated his research materials. Archivist Joel Minor graciously extended interest and ability to properly care for the entire model as it had been exhibited for the six years at the Visitor's Center Musuem on the Mount Carmel property. He plans to exhibit the model periodically.

In August of 2008 I received a fellowship to research material holdings (i.e. records/documents) pertaining to Waco Branch Davidian history as well as materials pertaining to the events of 1993. These materials are cared for by the Texas Collection, an archival research center in Carroll Library at Baylor University. While there, I revisited the and took these photos of the Mt. Carmel property:

The crape myrtle trees were still doing well at the time despite maintenance/water supply removal in 2006.
The bus appears to have been removed and the house across the street that the ATF used
was completely demolished sometime around 2004.

As evening sun sets. You can see the opposition the the highway project posted here.

Opposition to the Trans-Texas Corridor project can be seen posted here, as the sun sets at Mount Carmel.
See Dina Raston's article in my reference section for more information.

Understanding the history behind the property, religious communities on it, and the events of 1993, for me, has involved reading a significant amount of critical perspective material about the 1993 tragedy; speaking, writing, and visiting with survivors; studying archival materials, visiting the Mount Carmel site and the Waco area, and getting to know other folks who were involved in the events and have been since 1993. Below is a chart I created from various materials in order to juxtapose events with the succession of prophets on the property as they have been documented, remembered and written about. This document is not set in stone, as I learn new things every year that put some times or events in question. That is why I annotated the map with where I found the information. I update it with new information as I gather it when time permits. Click on the image for a down-loadable version that is readable:

Chart A: A mapping of events behind the history of the Mt. Carmel property near Waco, Texas. Click chart above for readable PDF.
Click the chart to download the readable, annotated PDF file.

Although the events are complex, I've found every survivor that I have met, written or spoken with to be extremely welcoming and gracious. It is my hope that more attention will continue to be devoted to their stories so that this multiracial congregation that was comprised of people from around the world can be seen for who they are and/or were, and not for who the mainstream press often presents them to be. Catherine Wessinger of Loyola University in New Orleans has greatly assisted three survivors in the process of creating autobiographies. Bonnie Haldeman's autobiography was released in 2007 (Bonnie was tragically killed on January 23, 2009 - one of her sisters is being charged with her stabbing). Sheila Martin's autobiography was released in April of 2009 and I have been working with Catherine Wessinger and Clive Doyle to assist Clive in the process of creating his autobiography. Survivor Catherine Matteson, a long time community member who was Lois Roden's assistant and who also worked with Wessinger to create oral history transcripts (she has donated her transcripts to the Texas Collection at Baylor University) passed away October 6, 2009. Please consider picking up a copy of their books or look at their interviews to learn about this community and to support awareness about the perspectives of the survivors.

Catherine Matteson in February 2009.
Catherine Matteson in February of 2009.

Matthew Wittmer
October 2009

Mt. Carmel property in mid-February 2009

The property in February of 2009.

Memorial crape myrtle trees and 2001 chapel in February 2009

The crape myrtle trees were still growing strong in their original 1995 placement in
February of 2009.

Inside of pool foundation, February 2009

The inside of the swimming pool has not held as much water in recent years as it once did.

The 2001 chapel in February 2009

The 2001 chapel is now used by Charles Pace and his congregation since 2006. Charles
was not a member of David's community.

**The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University-San Marcos Alkek Library has received
a Texas Heritage Digitization Initiative grant to digitize a portion of investigative author
Dick Reavis's research materials for his book The Ashes of Waco. A photo of mine is
featured on a page of the blog that Archivist Joel Minor and Processing Archivist Kurt Johnson
set up to follow this project's progress. This can be located at:
http://alkeklibrarynews.typepad.com/ashesofwaco/2009/02/miles-and-miles-of-texas.html

another photo of me is posted there at:
http://alkeklibrarynews.typepad.com/ashesofwaco/2009/05/419-memorial-service.html

In October 2009, my model of Mount Carmel was graciously accessioned by the Wittliff Collections
at Alkek Library, Texas State University-San Marcos! Thank you Joel Minor!
http://alkeklibrarynews.typepad.com/ashesofwaco/2009/10/another-new-acquisition.html

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Referenced Sources

Baily, Brad and Bob Darden. 1993. Mad Man in Waco. Waco, Tex.: WRS Publishing.

Bresnahan, David M. 2000. Feds Accused of torturing babies: Waco lawsuit condemns FBI, Delta Force for gassing women, children for 6 hours. World Net Daily (26 January). http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=408 (accessed 30 June 2009).

Brown, Peter J. 1993. On the trial in Texas. ONSTAT: America's Weekly Satellite Guide (May 24-30):C10-12.

Congressional Records. Congressional records are fully restricted for 50 years, however a listing for the Senate's records (ARC ID#657591 & #657590, both belonging to Record Group 46) and House of Representative records (ARC ID#1667879 belonging to Record Group 233) that each pertain to the congressional investigation into the events of 1993 at Mt. Carmel can be accessed via the National Archives & Records Administration's Archival Records Catalog (ARC) at http://www.archives.gov/research/arc.

Culp, Cindy. 2006. Branch Davidians caught in another power struggle. Waco Tribune-Herald, (April 20):1A, 6A.

Day 51. 1994. VHS. Directed by Robert Mosley. UTV. Viewable on google videos at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6765270087708355283 (accessed 30 June 2009).

Department of the Treasury, Report of the. 1993. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Investigation of Vernon Wayne Howell also known as David Koresh (September). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. [524 pages approximately, including appendices.]

De Vault, Jack. 1994. The Waco Whitewash, San Antonio: Rescue Press.

The F.L.I.R. Project. 2001. VHS. Produced, written, researched and directed by Michael McNulty. COPS Productions. This program shows how Danforth's re-examination of the forward looking infrared (taken on 19 April) is misleading and unreliable because basic details in reconstructing the use of the FLIR did not use the same weapons and was not conducted in the same enviornmental conditions that were present on 19 April 1993. This video also contains FBI footage of agents taking trophy shots of themselves next to charred victim corpses in the rubble immediately follwing the fire.

Frontline: Once upon a time in Arkansas. Vince Foster’s Journal. PBS Online. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/arkansas/etc/foster.html (accessed 30 June 2009).

Haldeman, Bonnie. 2007. Memories of the Branch Davidians: The Autobiography of David Koresh's Mother. Catherine Wessinger, ed. Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press.

Hancock, Lee. 1999. U.S. Warned to release Waco Siege Documents: Judge again threatens government with contempt. Dallas Morning News (03 November). A copy of this article has been posted on the Montgomery citizens for a safer Maryland website at: http://www.mcsm.org/waco24.html (accessed 30 June 2009).

Hardy David T. and Rex Kimball. 2001. This Is Not An Assault: Penetrating the Web of Official Lies Regarding the Waco Incident. Tinicum, Pennsylvania: Xlibris Corporation. Written by one of the three defense attorneys that has represented the survivors, this book is about how the governmental agencies involved in the debacle of 1993 reacted and continue to respond to this incident. It exposes the tragic accidents and cover-ups that have shielded the public from adequately seeing what happened during and after the siege.

Houteff, Victor T. 1931. The Shepherd's Rod: The 144,000 of Revelation - Call for Reformation. Los Angeles: Universal Publishing Association.

Inside Mount Carmel. 1993. VHS. Video taken of Mt. Carmel residents made for the FBI during the 51 day siege inside Mt. Carmel. Waco, Tex.: Mount Carmel Visitor’s Center Museum, 2000.

Kopel, David B and Paul H. Blackman. 1997. No More Wacos: What's Wrong with Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It. New York: Prometheus Books.

Lynch, Timothy. 2001. No Confidence: An unofficial account of the Waco incident. The CATO Institute:policy analysis no. 395. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-395es.html (accessed 30 June 2009).

Martin, Sheila. 2009. When they were mine: memoirs of the Branch Davidian wife and mother. Catherine Wessinger, ed. Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press.

McLaughlin, Martin. 1999. Cover-up of Waco massacre unravels as new evidence exposes FBI lies. World Socialist Web Site (4 September) http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/sep1999/waco-s04.shtml (accessed 30 June 2009).

Mitchell, Douglas F. 2003-2009. General Association of Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. http://www.the-branch.org/ (accessed 30 June 2009).

Moore, Carol. 1995. The Davidian Massacre: disturbing questions about Waco which must be answered. Franklin, Tennessee: Legacy Communications. This book chronicles details about the ATF who were one of the central agencies involved in the initial raid as well as the FBI who were involved throughout the siege. It reveals how these agencies actions and press briefings lead to the massive misinterpretation of the Mt. Carmel community.

Mount Carmel 911 Tape. 1993. Audiocassette, 1-13 hours condensed. Waco, TX: Mount Carmel Visitor’s Center Museum, 2000.

Nelson, Alan and Sandra Gines. 1988. Crying in the Wilderness: A religious commune sets up a dwelling in the woods amid a struggle between rival prophets. Waco Tribune-Herald (17 January).

Newport, Kenneth G. C. 2006. The Branch Davidians of Waco: The History and Beliefs of an Apocalyptic Sect. New York: Oxford University Press.

The Office of Special Counsel John C. Danforth. 2000. Final Report to the Deputy Attorney General: concerning the 1993 confrontation at the Mt. Carmel complex, Waco, Texas, Section (e), Pursuant to Order no. 2256-99. (8 November). PDF file with multiple appendices. [1604 pages including the appendices.]

Pace, Charles (?). The Branch: Our LORD Our Righteousness:welcome to our newly reorganized church and website. http://the2branches.org/index.html (accessed 30 June 2009).

Pate, James L. 2000. Waco: A New Revelation—startling new video ignites investigations. Soldier of Fortune (February): 52-55, 72.

Raston, Dina Temple. 2007. Branch Davidians see conspiracy in highway project. All Things Considered (18 May), National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/
templates/story/story.php?storyId=10243823 (accessed 30 June 2009).

Reavis, Dick J. 1995. The Ashes of Waco. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Reporters Committe for Freedom of the Press, The. 2000. Waco secrecy damaged public trust, report finds (Summer). The News, Media and the Law 24 (3): 23. http://www.rcfp.org/news/mag/24-3/foi-wacorept.html (accessed 30 June 2009).

Robertson, J.J., 1996. Beyond the Flames: This is the true story of the massacre at Waco from a man who watched it happen. San Diego: ProMotion Publishing.

Roden, Amo. AMO RODEN HERSELF. http://www.amoroden.com (accessed 30 June 2009).

Shannon, Elaine. 1999. Feuding over Waco: Sects, files and videotape fuel the face-off between Justice and the FBI over the Branch Davidians. Time (13 September): 29-30.

Shappart, Sharlene. 2000. Take a moment to picture this. http://wizardsofaz.com/waco/picturethis.html (accessed 30 June 2009).

Stone, Alan A. 1993. Report and Recommendations Concerning the Handling of Incidents Such As the Branch Davidian Standoff in Waco Texas (8 November). In The Bill Smith Collection, Texas Collection, Baylor University. A 10 November 1993 version of this report that is nearly identical is available through the PBS website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/waco/stonerpt.html (accessed 30 June 2009).

Tabor, James. 1995. Why Waco?. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
This book was written by a professor who was initially called in as a religious studies consultant to provide central negotiation strategies to resolve the initial raid situation after the ATF attack. The FBI, ATF and directives from Washington did not agree with Tabor's suggestions. They dismissed his recommendations and called in other consultants who recommended forceful tactics to get Davidians to leave the property.

Taylor, Wendi. Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist (B.D.S.D.A.) Online Information. http://bdsda.com/default.aspx (accessed 30 June 2009).

The Texas Collection, Carroll Library, Baylor University, Waco, Texas. Branch Davidian archival material holdings include the following series:
The Mark Swett Collection
The Joe Roberts Collection
The Robert Darden Collection
The Bill Smith Collection
The Kirk T. Lyons Collection
The Don Marion Collection
The Amo Roden Collection
(For a review of the contents of each of the collections above, please see my article listed under Wittmer, Matthew in this list or in the index at the beginning of this website).

Thibodeau, David and Leon Whiteson. 1999. A Place Called Waco: A Survivor’s Story, New York: Public Affairs.
A first hand account of the siege and fire written by survivor David Thibodeau.

United States Department of Justice. 1993. Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas: Introduction (8 October). http://www.usdoj.gov/05publications/waco/wacotocpg.htm#toc (accessed 30 June 2009).

Valentine, Carol A. 1996. Waco Electronic Holocaust Museum. Public Action Inc.. http://www.public-action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum/index.html (accessed 30 June 2009).

Waco: A New Revelation. 1999. VHS. Produced, written and researched by Michael McNulty and directed by Jason Van Vleet. MGA Films.
This is the sequel to Waco: Rules of Engagement and focuses more on the aftermath, questions of wrongdoing, and has interviews of some persons not in the first documentary. It summarizes the siege quickly and has information about what was going on with the intelligence outside the building that the first documentary does not present.

Waco: The Rules of Engagement. 1997. VHS: red jacket director’s cut. Produced, written and researched by Michael McNulty and directed by William Gazecki. This version was a joint production between Gazecki and McNulty and released before the version that went on to Sundance that was distributed by Somford Entertainment.
This documentary received two thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert and began raising eyebrows at what was not covered by the media by showing footage taken from the air by the FBI. This documentary mixes interviews with survivors of the siege in with the actual footage of the siege and testimony from the 1995 Sub Committee Hearings on Crime investigation. The first version of this was released on VHS with a red jacket cover (only about 5000 copies exist) and is longer than the version that won awards and was distributed by Somford Entertainment. This documentary takes you through the entire 51-day siege and focuses on showing the actions of ATF and FBI agents. The red jacket version has a different narrator, different editing and different ending. The Somford version has material not in the red jacket version.

Wessinger, Catherine. Professor of Religious Studies, Loyola University, New Orleans. http://www.loyno.edu/~wessing/milpubs.htm (accessed 30 June 2009).

Wittliff Collections. Ashes of Waco: A blog about the digitization and online presentation of archival materials in the Dick J. Reavis Papers. Southwestern Writers Collection, Alkek Library, Texas State University-San Marcos. http://alkeklibrarynews.typepad.com/ashesofwaco/ (accessed 30 June 2009).

Wittliff Collections. Dick J. Reavis Papers. Southwestern Writers Collection, Alkek Library, Texas State University-San Marcos. Collection #086, 103 boxes (51 linear feet). http://alkek.library.txstate.edu/swwc/archives/writers/reavis.html (accessed 30 June 2009).

The Wittliff Collections. Ashes of Waco: A Digitized Archive from the Wittliff Collections. Southwestern Writers Collection, Alkek Library, Texas State University-San Marcos. http://ashesofwaco.library.txstate.edu/index.html (accessed 11 October 2009).

Wittmer, Matthew. 2009. Traces of the Mount Carmel Community: Documentation and Access. Nova Religio: The Journal of New and Emergent Religions 13 (2):95-113.

Wright, Stuart A, ed. 1995. Armageddon in Waco: Critical Perspectives on the Branch Davidian Conflict. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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Mount Carmel Memorial Tree & Stone Layout:
Documented here as originally planted by survivors at the
1995 April 19th Memorial.
(In April of 2009 the trees were all uprooted and replanted along both sides of the property's driveway.)

Memorial crape myrtle trees were planted on the Mount Carmel property directly in front of
where David's Mt. Carmel building once stood. They were planted by the survivors and a
supporter named Rick Donaldson during the April 19th Memorial in 1995.

Memorial tree and stone for Star Howell.

Trees in the winter without blooms...

Trees here are without blooms in the winter. This photo was taken
in December of 2000.

Trees in August of 2008.
Memorial trees as they appeared in August 2008.

These trees were later each fitted with memorial headstones that had the name, date of death,
age, and country of origin of every community member who was killed between February and
April of 1993.

David's memorial headstone as it appeared on
the Mount Carmel property in December of 2000.

Charles Pace (property resident since at least 1996) uprooted all of these stones from the trees in
2006 (see Cindy Culp article in references for photo of the original uprooting - David's stone was
destroyed then). As of April 2009, the stones were stacked vertically in two piles
under the tree near the front gate.

Where the stones were at in February of 2009. Photo taken from the property looking toward the drive's exit to the road.

Where the stones were at in February of 2009. Photo taken from the property looking toward the drive's exit to the road.

Here you can see the name stones stacked
in two piles under the tree near the
property's front gate in February of 2009.

In April of 2009, Charles had the trees themselves each uprooted from their original 1995 location,
which has effectively erased the survivor's initial memorial layout of the trees and stones. The trees
appear to have been over-pruned, and have been replanted along the drive that leads
from Double EE road to the chapel.

The trees as of April 2009 - uprooted from original placement and replanted along the drive.

The trees as of April 2009 - uprooted from original placement and replanted along the drive.

This is how the trees appeared in April of 2009 - completely
removed from their original placement and over-pruned.

Below is a map of how the survivors planted these trees in 1995 and how they fitted each one
with a stone name marker. I made this map, and rubbings from every name stone, in December
of 2000. Row one was the furthest from where Mount Carmel once stood and row nine was the
closest to where the front of the building once was.

Now that all stones and tress have been removed, my website is the only effort that has
documented the layout of how the trees and stones were initially arranged by survivors.
See map below.

1995-2009 map of memorial trees and name stones. Click chart above for readable PDF.

RUBBINGS OF MEMORIAL NAME STONES
by matthew wittmer in December of 2000.

Row 1, the furthest from where Mount Carmel stood, south to east (6 stones)

Michael Schroeder

Clifford Sellors

Neil Vaega

Jaydean Wendel

Mark H. Wendel

Row 2, south to east (9 stones)

Lorraine Sylvia

Hollywood Sylvia

Rachel Sylvia

Floracita Sonobe

Scott K. Sonobe

Aisha Summers

Aborted Baby Summers

Startle Summers

Gregory A. Summers

Row 3, south to east (11 stones)

John M. McBean

A. Bernadette Monbelly

Melissa Morrison

Rosemary Morrison

Sonia Murray

Theresa Nobrega

James L. Riddle

Rebecca Saipaia

Judith Schneider

Mayanah Schneider

Steven Schneider

Row 4, south to east (11 stones)

Douglas W. Martin

Anita M. Martin

Sheila R. Martin

Lisa M. Martin

Wayne Martin

Abigail Martinez

Audrey M. Martinez

Joseph S. Martinez

Isaiah Barrios

Crystal Barrios

Juliette Santoyo

Row 5, south to east (11 stones)

Little One Jones

Chica Jones

Michelle Thibodeau

Serenity Sea Jones

Livingston Malcolm

Diane Martin

Jeffrey Little

Nicole E. Little

Dayland L. Gent

Paiges Gent

Aborted Fetus Gent

Row 6, south to east (10 stones)

Novelette Hipsman

Peter Hipsman

Floyd Houtman

Rachel Howell

Cyrus Howell

Star Howell

David Koresh

Bobbie L. Koresh

Sherri Jewell

Perry D. Jones

Row 7, south to east (9 stones)

Peter Gent

Sandra Hardial

Diana Henry

Paulina Henry

Phillip Henry

Steven Henry

Vanessa Henry

Zilla Henry

David M. Jones

Row 8, south to east (8 stones)

Pablo Cohen

Abedowalo Davies

Sharie E. Doyle

Evette Fagan

Doris Fagan

Beverly Elliott

Lisa Farris

Raymond Friesen

Row 9, closest to where Mount Carmel once stood, south to east (7 stones)

Jennifer Andrade

Chanel Andrade

Kathy Andrade

Alrick G. Bennett

Susan Benta

Winston Blake

Mary Jean Borst

[Back to index near top of page].

McLennan County Restland Cemetery Burials
Photos by matthew wittmer in February 2009

The following photos are of all of the burial plot headstones located in the
McLennan County Restland Cemetery where several of the people who were killed
at Mount Carmel are buried. The cemetery is referred to as a pauper's cemetery
by some of the local survivors. It is directly southeast of Oakwood Cemetery in the
city of Waco. To access theses plots go to 9th street near the intersection of Martin
or Holt Avenue and you will see the gate pictured above. Most plots are in the ends
of rows 7 and 8 with the exception of Floyd Houtman whose plot is a couple of rows
northwest of row 7.

The end of rows 7 and 8 are where most people who were killed at Mount Carmel are buried.

The end of rows 7 and 8 are where most people who were killed at Mount Carmel are buried.

Wayne Martin

Douglas Martin

Twin Jones

Serenity Jones

Michele Thibodeau

Perry Jones

Bobbie Koresh

Cyrus Howell

Novellette Hipsman

Unknown

Unknown (second)

Unknown (third)

Unknown (forth)

Sonia Murray

Raymond Friesen

Unknown Martinez (second)

Audrey Martinez

Juliette Martinez

Floyd Houtman

This is what the row markers look like as you enter through the fence.

Oakwood Cemetery Burial
Photos by matthew wittmer in February 2009

Shari Doyle is buried on the north side of the south end of Oakwood Cemetery.

Shari Doyle

[Back to index near top of page]t

Mount Carmel Memorial Postcard

MEMORIAL MODEL OF MOUNT CARMEL Created by Matthew Wittmer
Postcards of the memorial model are available. They have the address of the property printed on the them, though the Visitor's Center is no longer exhibiting the model, photos or artifacts since the survivors moved off of the property in 2006. Email any inquiries to me and write WACO POSTCARD in the subject heading. Cards are one dollar each and 100% goes to the survivors fund. Look for a new card in the late summer or fall of 2009.

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