Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • FA L L 2 0 1 7 70 E VER WALKED THROUGH A CEMETERY AND IMAGINED FOOTSTEPS BE- HIND YOU, A RUSTLING IN THE LEAVES, OR BONY HANDS REACHING UP THROUGH LAYERS OF MOLDY EARTH? Since the beginning of time, places of the dead have harbored spirits, real and imagined. From pioneer burial grounds to landscaped cem- eteries, Montana has more than a few with poignant histories, mysterious quirks, and—some say—lingering spirits where you may encounter the energy of those who rest, or don't rest, among the tombstones. Montana's cemeteries reflect the state's history and sometimes reveal the darker side of a community. e cemetery at the great silver camp of Elkhorn, for example, tells the story of an 1889 epidemic that claimed most of its children. But lesser known is the reason for the common grave of two young boys, Albin Nelson and Harry Walton, who miraculously escaped the epidemic. Months later, they blew themselves up when they found and exploded a canister of gunpowder. Cemeteries also reflect cultural traditions. At Helena's Home of Peace, Montana's oldest active Jewish Cemetery, curbs and brick walkways recall the camaraderie of a neighborhood. Instead of flowers, visitors leave stones symbolizing remembrance that survives after earthly things wither. A Chinese funerary burner at Butte's Mount Moriah Cemetery illustrates the tradition of burning monetary offerings and the deceased's belongings for the journey to the afterlife. And along the Hi-Line, graves at Sacred Heart Cemetery—adjacent to the eerie, boarded-up abandoned mission church—include personal tributes such as a lariat, a tennis shoe, a basketball, and other treasured reminders of loved ones gone. In Montana, as elsewhere, small urban cemeteries were originally haphazard and families cared for their own plots. But people moved on or died, graves were forgotten, and neigh- borhoods developed over them. Large, planned, and landscaped cemeteries, a 19th century innovation, began to serve as parks where residents could enjoy nature, picnic, and reflect. Montana tapped into this movement. While some garden park cemeteries, like Bozeman's Sunset Hills and Billings' Mountview, evolved in the 20th century from smaller, pioneer burial grounds, a few originated as formally planned cemeteries. Butte's Mount Moriah, one of Montana's first planned cemeteries, came about of neces- sity in 1877 when underground mining caused urban burials to rise to the surface. Pollution allowed nothing to grow, so the cemetery was bleak. Butte compensated with artful tomb- stones. By 1905, as smelting moved to Anaconda, trees and shrubs began to revegetate. e once-barren grounds, beautiful today, include attractive cemetery sculptures. Missoula's City Cemetery (1884) and Helena's Forestvale (1890) were both professionally planned and landscaped. But it is the C. E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell that is Montana's true garden park prototype. Kalispell founder Charles Conrad had little time left when he and his wife Alicia took a final horseback ride to a favorite promontory in 1902. Charles asked to be buried there. Weeks later Alicia not only carried out his wishes, but also began to plan a community cemetery. She traveled widely and found a landscape architect and experienced cemetery manager in A. W. Hobert of Minneapolis. Hobert designed the C. E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in 1905 as a formal garden park cemetery. Today, 104 acres include winding drive- ways, sweeping lawns, and formal plantings that blend into the natural setting. The C. E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery welcomes visitors as do most of Montana's cemeteries. The Home of Peace in Helena is Montana's oldest active Jewish cemetery, founded in 1867, and features curbs and brick walkways. Chinese mourners used this funerary burner in Butte's Mount Moriah Cemetery to burn monetary offerings and the deceased's belongings. The Sacred Heart Catholic Church, boarded up and abandoned, sits next to the Sacred Heart Cemetery along the Hi-Line in Blaine County. Poignant remembrances like this lariat adorn the graves at the Sacred Heart Cemetery. article and photos by ELLEN BAUMLER E X P L O R I N G M O N T A N A ' S

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