Choteau Cemetery is one of the oldest public spaces in Teton County as it dates to the platting of the town itself in 1883.

The beautiful, well manicured grounds of today did not always exist. For the first four decades the county “kept” the cemetery but merely as a burial ground for residents and the poor (the county bought 10 plots for indigent burials in 1895).

In 1927, during a decade of beautification efforts happening in towns, schools, and ranches across the country, city officials decided to introduce a levy to pay for the irrigation of the cemetery and the planting of a beautiful grove of trees to further dignify this community place.

In 1928 the city purchased lawn seed and acquired the first set of saplings to plant. Thoughtfully maintained ever since, even when with some controversy cemetery leaders removed 70 diseased trees in 2015, the Choteau Cemetery is an impressive sight, and worth a thorough investigation as it approaches its 100th year as an irrigated public property.

There is a range of fraternal markers from the early 20th century.

There are delicately carved stones in Victorian themes reflective of the Civil War era.

And as you expect there are veterans of the US Army from the Civil War and all subsequent wars buried here.

Then there are those markers that hint at a bigger story and you miss you knew more, such as this blending of the pillow and heart motifs for Mary McDonough and erected by Minnie Reese.

The cemetery is large but not overwhelming. Its straight forward linear design and rectangular shape are common. But the evident care and commitment of today’s residents to the past is commendable and worthy of note.