SigMT

As Montana's early selements evolved into towns, a proper burial ground, along with schools and churches, became the hallmark of a stable and educated community. Haphazard "boot hills"— usually located on high ground and so named for those who died suddenly with their boots on—were characteristic of early western communities. ese informal cemeteries were typically abandoned as urban development encroached. Deer Lodge, one of Montana's early selements, follows this trend. Hillcrest Cemetery was perhaps Montana's first formally planned burial ground. Its landscaped driveways and tombstone styles parallel the growth of Deer Lodge while interpreting the transition to the modern era. Deer Lodge established its first main cemetery atop the plateau later known as "College Hill," where Trask Hall stands today. In 1870, town expansion prohibited further urban burials. A new cemetery, on a rise west of the Clark Fork, was then established. In 1872, the "Cemetery Beyond the River"—as it was initially known—was formally laid out with sections for Catholic, Protestant, county, military, and civic societies. Remains from the old burial ground were moved to this new cemetery. Since Montana had no tombstone makers until the late 1870s, these earliest graves were typically unmarked, but by the first of that decade, as communities became less transient, mail-ordered marble tombstones and tall obelisks became common. Many of these dot Hillcrest's grounds. e federal prison at Deer Lodge was the first institution in Montana to set aside a formal burial site and designated the new cemetery's western end for that purpose in 1870. e grave of H. B. Fanning, who died of consumption in 1872, was the first recorded inmate burial. Like most inmate graves, Fanning's is unidentified. Large, natural stones delineate rows of anonymous graves. Today the site leaves a painful impression of so many lives lost to ignominy. Like many Montana cemeteries, Hillcrest's landscaped driveways and funerary art reflect the trend of making cemeteries places where the dead could rest and the public could take their leisure. Cemeteries were places where families gathered to recreate and reflect. Statuary and artistic tombstones were not only for remembrance but for the enjoyment of visitors. One intricate monument, representing the fraternal Woodmen of the World, is highly symbolic. A tree trunk implies life cut short, while an ax, mallet, and wedge—symbolizing industry, power, and progress—identify the organization. Imported white marble upright tombstones and obelisks like this one characterize the 1870s and 1880s. A Prescott specialty was the child's tufted chair with shoes tucked under and clothing draped across. Zinc tombstones were lightweight yet durable and artistic. 70 | SIGNATURE MONTANA

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