KBPV to host 2014 Moonlight Cemetery Tour

Garrit Terpstra and Catherine DeCock at 2013 Graveyard Tour
T. Lucas file photo

Justine Jorgensen

On Sunday, August 10, 2014 the Kootenai Brown Pioneer Village will hold its Moonlight Cemetery Tour. Participants will meet at the museum at 9:00 pm, then head out to the location for the event at 10:00 pm; this year, the tour will be held south of town at Saint Henry's Church, around a twenty to twenty-five minute drive. "It's a reenactment of some of the historical pioneers that are represented in the headstones and burials at the cemetery," museum curator Farley Wuth explained. "It helps - excuse the pun - bring the history to life."

St. Henry's Church
(C. Davis file photo)

Saint Henry's Church was established in 1907.  It is on top of a big, windswept prairie hill, with a prominent view of the mountains all around and the cemetery on the south side of church. ""It's got a very interesting history there. It's been very actively supported by the early pioneers of the area, so there's lots of history there," said Wuth. There are ninety-eight graves in the cemetery, but the event will just be focusing on the pioneers, so around two dozen individuals. People from the museum will be representing their history, explain some of their own backgrounds, genealogies and biographies. "It's meant to be done in a very dignified and respectful way. We're doing it with the full respect for the people that were there," Wuth mentioned. " Just bring their history."

An example of two pioneers that will be featured that night are siblings Tilly and Charlie Puize. They lived down by the Waterton Dam, just east of Saint Henry's Church, in a place that was originally a North West Mounted Police building. The same building has been preserved at the museum. The brother and sister were known as very colourful characters that built a two story addition onto the house and were known for raising great horses. Charlie did a lot of the ranching - Tilly helped out on the ranch and was also the local dressmaker, and a cook. "They were very interesting people. Some people like the Puizes don't have a lot of relatives anymore in the area," said Wuth. "Others do, but it's always nice to bring back some of the history."

"We're going to be doing more rural cemetery tours in the future and then rotate back to some of the town cemetery sites that we haven't done before, so we're not going to be repeating a lot of this." Wuth explained that, in the foreseeable future, there will much new material. "It should be a fun event."

Advanced booking is required in order to participate in this event. Tickets are ten dollars per person and the museum can be contacted by email at mail.kbpv@gmail.com or phoned at 403-627-3684. People can even drop by the museum itself. For more information, contact the museum or Farley Wuth at fswuth.kbpv@gmail.com or 403-627-3684.