About 13 years ago, I made a quick stop at the Mountain View Cemetery in Big Timber. Located south of the interstate exit, next to the local historical society museum, the cemetery’s well crafted stone gates, walls, and stone office dated to a Works Projects Administration undertaking in the late 1930s.
Thirteen years later, in the summer of 2026, I took the time to explore beyond the gates and found a quite fascinating place, full of interesting grave markers and stories.
On the north side of the cemetery is a tall concrete obelisk dedicated to Vivian Ogilvie, who died in 1967. A native of Sweet Grass County, she graduated from high school and then worked on ranches around Melville. In about 1935 she moved to California to train as a nurse and made her career there before returning with her husband George Ogilvie to Big Timber in 1964.
Adjacent to the Ogilvie markers is a large ornate granite marker for Santos Forsythe, who grew up in the Melville area. He died in 1918, at the age of 30. A member of the Elk lodge in Livingston, he received a heartfelt goodbye from his fellow Elk members at his funeral.
I next moved to the center of the cemetery to pay respects at the Hickman family, erected following the tragic and horrific death of Nellie Hickman and two children at their Sweetgrass County ranch.
But much to my surprise—you had to rub your eyes—there was a new piece of cemetery furniture installed at the Hickman marker. On the east side was a bench in the shape of a lion. I have never seen anything like it in a Montana cemetery.
The dedicated veterans section is near the west end of the cemetery. The local American Legion chapter established this humble, respectful section in 1950.
U.S. veterans from the Civil War era are also found in earlier sections of the cemetery. Peter McMartin served in a Colorado unit. James Woods served in. West Virginia unit.
McMaster worked as a sheep herder in the county. He died in 1909. Woods left the South after the war and farmed in Minnesota marrying his wife Elizabeth in 1873. They were still in Minnesota in 1880 but after the construction of the Northern pacific railroad they moved west. Woods died in 1901.
Nearby the two veterans is a beautifully carved child’s grave marker, Martin Habenicht who died only eight months old. Not far way, also in the cemetery’s west end, is a modern monument, to all of the children buried in the cemetery who did not have a tombstone.
What a commendable effort to identify all of these children! One side credits the hard work of three women and the support of the Big Timber Women’s Club. The children names are on the reverse side.
The cemetery is well maintained and watered. It is a restful place to visit although traffic noise from the nearby interstate interrupts quiet reflection.
Family plots are scattered throughout as subscriptions helped to pay for the cemetery’s creation. Many are adorned with beautiful markers.
Mabel Blakeslee died in 1901. She and her husband Grank operated the Blakeslee Hotel and were considered among the pioneers of Big Timber.
A stylish Art Deco style gravestone marks the plot of Abraham Grosfield’s family plot. He and his wife Alena emigrated to the United States in 1883. They were ranchers in the county. Alena died in 1940 and Abraham died in 1944. At his funeral at the Big Timber Lutheran Church, the minister sand a hymn in Norwegian.
Many more stories await exploration at this special place in Big Timber.
But my visit on Memorial Day 2018 left me with the feeling that the cemetery is an under-appreciated historic property. There are no signs of true neglect, but it was so quiet on Memorial Day that I did think the place had become an almost forgotten historic asset–an afterthought in today’s busy world. I hope not–because this cemetery has many jewels to explore and appreciate. Perhaps the most striking–certainly most rare to see–are the cast iron baskets–or bassinets, see below, that surround two children’s graves.
plots–certainly the ironwork was a status symbol in the late 19th century and there is no one statement. Families adorned their graves with fences much as they surrounded their houses in the nearby neighborhoods.
Benton Avenue Cemetery is worth a new consideration for its many different forms, materials, and designs. When I lived in Helena some thirty-five years ago, I gave it scant attention–it deserves so much more.
Far from the bustle and grime of the Richest Hill on Earth are the historic cemeteries of Butte. As I have said many times already in this blog, I rarely considered cemeteries during the 1984-1985 state historic preservation plan work. That was a huge mistake for Butte. The three historic cemeteries I wish to consider here–Mt. Moriah, St. Patrick’s, and B’nai Israel–document the city’s ethnic diversity like few other resources, reinforcing how groups survived in a city together although they often keep to their separate communities. But the cemeteries also have sculpture and art worthy of attention and preservation–they are outstanding examples of late 19th and early 20th cemetery art and craftsmanship in the United States.
The Masons established Mr. Moriah Cemetery Association in 1877. The cemetery has many striking markers, especially the Thompson Arches (seen above and below), an elaborate statement to mark a family plot, especially when compared to the cast-iron
iron fence, when combined with the carving and detail of the gravestone itself makes quite the statement for Cornish identity in Butte at the turn of the century. Note the dual fraternal lodge marks, one for the Masons, another (the linked chain) for the Odd Fellows.
Frank Beck left this earth in 1909, and the marker for Frank and his wife Agnes is remarkable for the inclusion of the family pet, noted above as Frank and His Faithful Dog.
1881 when the Hebrew Benevolent Association first acquired the land from the Northern Pacific Railroad. Congregation B’nai Israel acquired the property in 1905, two years after finishing its landmark synagogue in uptown Butte.
The cemetery seems to stretch to the very edge of the city, but it is worth a long walk around for what you can discover about the Catholic impact on Butte in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
There are spectacular sculptural monuments to prominent city builders, such as the Classical Revival-style temple crypt for merchant price D. J. Hennessy.
Adjacent are separate plots maintained for Sisters who served and died in Butte as well as larger, more elaborate memorials for priests who served in Butte over the years.
