History

The origination of the Deep Creek Cemetery begins almost one hundred fifty years ago, before the entity of Broadwater County even existed. A letter from Newton Woods published in the February 22, 1951 Townsend Star sheds some light on the cemetery’s beginning. Woods writes “I remember a recollection of my father as he related it many years ago. After the valley was settling up and permanent settlement seemed to be assured, that uncle Jack Keaton and my grandfather, while talking to a group of men one day suggested that they should select some place for a graveyard. One young man, Milt Provence, was said to have laughed heartily and said it was time do that when someone died. It happened that his wife, Virginia Kemper Provence, was the first grave in that place my grandfather had selected. I rather think that grandfather Keaton was the leader of it, erecting a particularly stout and high pole fence.”  The letter goes on to describe the early cemetery and its surroundings.

This letter of Newton Woods seems to be reinforced by an article in the Rocky Mountain Husbandman of January 18, 1877. The article states sadly “Arthur N Provence died aged 2 years 6 months and 21 days. Deceased was the last of a family, his mother having died two years ago, and his father having been a victim to the merciless savages in the Black Hills, last August. His malady was scarlet fever.”  Such was the sad story of three of the early burials in Deep Creek Cemetery.

A February 22, 1900 article in the Townsend Messenger reads as follows “On February 12, 1875 the first grave in Deep Creek Cemetery was made and everyone present prophesized that Miss Rosa Sharp would be the next to follow, however fate has objected to such a lot, as she has lived to be the mother of twelve children.”  An older date of death exists on one headstone in the cemetery. This belongs to Bertie Baker, a baby who was born and died in 1871. She was originally buried in Centerville Cemetery and then moved from Centerville Cemetery to Deep Creek Cemetery in 1878.

 Tracing several articles pertaining to early Deep Creek Cemetery history, one family had more than their share of sadness. George and Rosetta Ballard lost three little boys from 1880 to 1883. They are buried beside each other in Section A in the cemetery. Did you know at one time what we know as the “Sand Hill” was known as “Ballard Hill”?

The cemetery in its early years was in pretty rough condition. The December 12,1888 edition of the Townsend Tranchant reports “A gentleman who was at Deep Creek Cemetery a few days ago says he noticed two fresh-made graves that have been invaded by badgers and left in bad condition.” The cemetery has come a long way since then.

 The August 28, 1891 edition of the Townsend Messenger reports the following “Monday afternoon, a funeral service was held for Mrs. Thomas Dean, who was mortally wounded in a shotgun accident. The remains were interred in Deep Creek Cemetery and were followed by 350 people.” Imagine how many horses and wagons would have been needed to shuttle 350 people to the cemetery.

An article in the February 8, 1895 edition of the Townsend Messenger reports “At the time of the accident, “Uncle Dick” was preparing for a fishing trip at the headwaters of Deep Creek, and while awaiting a tardy companion the horse took fright and ran away with a fatal result. Deceased was interred in Deep Creek Cemetery.” Now that was a rough ending to the start of a fishing expedition.

 A note in The October 23, 1897 Townsend Star reads “Thomas Dixon received last week a handsome monument costing over two hundred dollars which he had erected over his father’s grave in Deep Creek Cemetery, adding much to the appearance of that city of the dead.” There are many beautiful monuments now in the cemetery and sadly many graves have no markers to denote the person in the grave. It is great that some relatives have realized this and have put new markers up to recognize the loved one in the grave. Did you know that the Dixon family were ancestors of our own Broadwater County Museum curator, Linda Huth?

The June 2, 1898 version of the Townsend Messenger says the following “Decoration Day was observed by a large number of valley people at Deep Creek Cemetery, all of whom brought a large abundance of flowers.” Memorial Day will soon be upon us on Monday May 27^th. It is always great to see all of the flowers on the graves as well as the flags on each grave of those who served our country in some capacity. Thank You to the local American Legion and their helpers who place the flags before Memorial Day.

Research by Jack Sautter and Vera Arnett shows that some of the original part of the cemetery was donated by Homer Shelley but the exact date and size of that donation cannot be found. This is the oldest portion of the cemetery and sections A and E are in the Shelley donated area. What is known is that in 1909 Homer Shelley deeded and sold to Jacob Titman approximately 10 acres of land. Then in September of 1917, the Titman family, through a donation from Jacob Titman’s heirs (D.S. Van Buskirk, Ann Van Buskirk, and Eleanor Van Buskirk Cummins) added to the cemetery by gifting almost 10 acres. The guardians of Jacob Titman for that transaction were William Harvey and Claude Flynn and the County Recorder was William Ragen. Sections C, D, F, G and H in the cemetery are known as the Titman Addition. Section B is known as the Masonic Addition.

In May of 1918 John and Luella Cauffman donated 1.04 acres to Deep Creek Cemetery and the size of the cemetery increased again in October of 1918 when H.P. Brandee and Alex Carson donated .2204 acres of land. The size increased by another .81 acres with a donation by William and Mary Prosser in 1958. Sections I, J, K, and L are referred to as the Prosser Addition of the cemetery. The current size of the cemetery is approximately 13.7 acres and was reached through a purchase of 1.532 acres from Alice Rieder in 1996. Section Z is located in that area of the cemetery.

The Articles of Incorporation of the Deep Creek Cemetery were filed July 2, 1917 by W. W. Harvey, J. E. Kanouse, E. L. Boone, Harmon Grimm, John Rardon, Chrles Lippert, E. H. Goodman, R. F. Condra and J. D. Doggett. By-laws were created and instituted in July of 1917.

Graves were sold for $7.50 per grave in 1918 and this was perpetual care for the grave. Those prices increased to $10 per grave by 1935 and have steadily increased over the years. The current price of a 5 ft by 17 ft grave is $600 for perpetual care. Recently, a smaller 5 ft. by 5 ft. 8 in. cremation grave has been made available for $300. For information on reserved graves or potentially reserving a grave in Deep Creek Cemetery, call Kevin Flynn at 406-459-4737.

There are 2215 people interred in Deep Creek Cemetery. From approximately 1900 to 1917, not very good records were kept at the cemetery. Fifty-five individuals, who some research points to their burial in Deep Creek Cemetery, but the location of their burial is unknown, are included in the list of 2215 interments. That list will be included at the end of the article on the history of Deep Creek Cemetery. Please contact Kevin Flynn at 406-459-4737 with any information on these individuals. Some may not be buried in the cemetery but information on location of graves of loved ones or dates of birth/death would be much appreciated. Eventually a sign will be placed in the Directory with the names of individuals with unmarked graves.

Many people have contributed to the upkeep of the Deep Creek Cemetery since its origin in 1875. Over the years, many groups have donated their time planting trees, planting and nurturing grass, and assisting with general maintenance of the cemetery.

The Trustees that served in past years are to be thanked for their excellent job that they did over the years. Current trustees are John Hahn, Gary Olsen, Tom Shindoll, Pam Davis, Jordan Shearer, Craig Vietz, and Kevin Flynn.

The caretakers, as well, are to be thanked for their tireless hours of work that has contributed to today’s beauty of the Deep Creek Cemetery. Known caretakers over the years are Bill Grimm, Sylvester Healy, Roy Doggett, Jim & Kathern Ragen, Bill Alley, Jay Reicke and the current caretaker Craig Vietz. Bill Alley, who recently passed away, spent over thirty years working at the cemetery with his family. The current caretaker, Craig Vietz, has notified the board that this will be his final year as caretaker. If someone is interested in that position, please call Craig Vietz at 406-241-0042   for details on the position.

Before the advent of the backhoe, graves were dug by hand. Known gravediggers over the years are Sam Stennett, Ernie Cowels, Sylvester Healy, and Jimmy Heron. The current gravedigger for opening and closing graves is BSE under the guidance of Brandon Bakken. Cremation interments have been done by the caretaker who currently is Craig Vietz.

 A special note is to be made for Alvena Hooper who served over 45 years as Secretary/Treasurer and a trustee. Alvena’s unending energy and time put forth for the welfare of the cemetery will always be remembered and appreciated. We would also like to acknowledge the contributions of Jack Sautter to Deep Creek Cemetery over the years. Jack was instrumental in working on the markers for the plots in sections I, J, K, and L with the assistance of Clint Watson and his shop classes.

The Directory now has an updated map with locations of loved ones as well as an alphabetical and section by section list of loved ones in the cemetery. Schauber Surveying has done a wonderful job keeping the maps updated. There is a new cemetery website created by Roger Flynn. The URL for the website is www.deepcreekcemetery.com. A new database for Deep Creek Cemetery has been constructed by John Hahn and is continually being updated. The sign for Deep Creek Cemetery has been repainted. It was built by Ray Gill and Vigilante Electric has been instrumental in changing the poles that hold the sign.

The Deep Creek Cemetery Association is a non-profit organization and it depends solely on donations, memorials, sale of gravesites, bequeaths from wills, and some interest generated from investments. The cemetery is NOT a county supported entity and no tax money goes to its maintenance.  Any support for Deep Creek Cemetery has and always will be appreciated. Donations and memorials can be sent to Deep Creek Cemetery, Box 12, Townsend, M 59644.

This information has been compiled for the Trustees on the Board of the Deep Creek Cemetery Association and anyone that may have loved ones buried there. The Board would greatly appreciate any other history, corrections or additions, that anyone might have in reference to the history of the Deep Creek Cemetery. Please contact Kevin Flynn at 406-459-4737 with those corrections or additions.