Several members of the Pahrump Genealogical Society are in the process of updating the Chief Tecopa Cemetery records, and they hope to have an updated records book completed by May.

Phyllis Alvis, who is heading the project, estimates that there have been approximately 400 people buried in the cemetery since the last records book was finished in 1998.

In addition to Alvis, Genealogical Society members Drexel Firby, Melanie Adams and Nancy Raskoph will be working on the project.

After obtaining death records from the town, the group will go to the cemetery and record the names, dates, and tombstone inscriptions of the deceased. Those about whom information is unavailable will be listed simply as unknown.

Alvis said there are a few unknown deceased in the cemetery, including some of the Native Americans buried there.

The committee is also going to compile a records book for the Pahrump Family Mortuary, which keeps its own records but does not have a book listing its deceased. Alvis estimates there are approximately 200 dead to be recorded from the newer cemetery, which is located on Vicky Ann Road.

Copies of the completed books will be distributed to the museum, library, and county. The last records book can be found at the Historical Society.

The Pahrump Genealogical Society meets at the Latter Day Saints' library the first Thursday of every month.