Cemetery tour provides look into Havre history

Local historian and H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum Director Emily Mayer led a historic cemetery tour Tuesday at Highland Cemetery where she spoke about the notable citizens of Hill County who are buried at the site.

"Sometimes we forget about them, so they need to have their stories revived and told to the next generation so that they don't forget their history," Mayer said.

She said that she started leading cemetery tours in 2010 after seeing the other tours and exhibits provided at Fort Assinniboine, Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump, Havre Beneath the Streets and the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum. She added that one of the common questions people had at these tours and historic locations was about where some of the historic people they were hearing about are buried.

She decided to put together tours at the cemetery in response to those questions, she said. In 2010, the first tour was a good mix of all the different kinds of people who lived in Havre. She decided in 2012 to hold special tours during the Hill County Centennial. After seeing positive responses for the tour, she said she wanted to combine some of the parts of each and focus on the people who everyone seemed to be curious about. She also introduced a tour three years ago telling the history of interesting women of Hill County.

She said that she enjoys leading the tours and sharing information on how Havre and Hill County came to be because history is something she has dedicated her life to.

"It's just coming here, seeing these people they have heard about all their lives and being able to have that connection," Mayer said.

She added that Highland Cemetery Manager Merrill Gray has also been a good resource for her to put the tours together, directing her to the graves she is interested in.

"He's been really, really awesome about letting me know where some of these people are," she said.

The tours go from one end of the cemetery to the other, including 10 different historical people for the theme of each tour with her providing a brief history for each grave, she said. She keeps the tour limited to 10 people so the tours can remain engaging and fun for visitors.

"You have to keep your tours only so long otherwise people lose interest," she said. "You could talk about (Christopher W.) 'Shorty' Young for three hours and still have material left over."

She added that most of the names are commonly known in Havre, such as Simon Pepin and C.W. "Shorty" Young, a famous bootlegger and philanthropist in Havre. But Mayer also comes across some interesting historical people through her own studies.

"I think they enjoy going to the grave sites of the people that they are familiar with and getting information on them, that way they know where they are at," she said. "That's why they are here, they are curious where these people are interred and also maybe some information they aren't getting elsewhere."

She added that she wants to also have a video tour available for people to purchase so people can watch it at their convenience. The videos will either be available on YouTube or on DVDs.

"I can put together a very interesting and entertaining tour that is historically accurate," she said.

During the tour, Mayer said the cemetery itself has an interesting history. In the late 1800s and early 1900s no regulations were in effect regarding burials, so many people would bury people in town or by water sources. This became an issue with sanitation and with graves being dug up when Havre began to grow. In response, Hill County required people to establish a cemetery, with Mount Hope Cemetery created on Second Street West near where the Great Northern Fairgrounds are and the Catholic Calvary Cemetery - now in Highland Cemetery. The county also required people not to bury human remains within the city in 1910.

It was not long before the cemetery began to fill up, but Calvary Cemetery was not open to the public, she said. Then, the same year as Hill County was formed, 1912, a few men in Havre - including James Holland, who helped get Hill County split out of Chouteau County as well as helping get Congress to create what is now Beaver Creek Park, in the same bill that created Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation - expanded the Calvalry Cemetery to create Highland Cemetery.

Mount Hope stopped doing burials in 1920 and Highland became the primary cemetery for the area. Mayer added that many of the bodies which were already buried at Mount Hope eventually were moved to Highland.

One of the well-known names in Havre's history was Simon Pepin, who was of French descent and born in Canada in 1838. Mayer said that he came to the area when Fort Assinniboine was still in operation and set up a meat market on what is now West First Street.

Pepin also had many family members who followed him to Havre throughout his life, and they also started a number of businesses and owned a number of properties. Pepin also built the Pepin Mansion, which was the first house in Hill County to have running water. The mansion was built where Havre-Hill County Library is today.

Mayer said that Pepin died of a heart attack in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1914.

"And that was probably not the way he would have chosen to go because he really did love Havre," she said. "He probably would have wanted to go in his beloved town."

After his death, different organizations and people came together to bring his body back to be buried in Havre, she said. His body was greeted by the Havre Elks Club, of which he was a member, and the funeral was held at St. Jude Thaddeus Church.

Pepin also set aside the land west of Sacred Heart Hospital, now Parkview Apartments, which would turn into Simon Pepin Memorial Park. Pepin stated to the city that if the city planted and maintained the area as a park, it would be deeded to the city of Havre, Mayer said.

"It's a well-used and much-beloved park in Havre," she said.

"Shorty" Young's grave can also be found at the Highland Cemetery.

She said that Young came to Havre from Chicago and was a well-known bootlegger and businessman in the area. His and his cohorts' success made them wealthy men and solidified them in Havre's history, she said, but in the department of love, Young was an abysmal failure, being married three times.

She added that Young was a smart businessman and invested in land and buildings in the area. After he died in 1944, all of his lands and buildings were sold with the money paying off his debts and the rest put in trust so the interest could go to the Elks Club, the Eagles Club and the Masonic Temple to create programs for the youth, the needy and elderly in Havre.

Young died a lonely old man, Mayer said, but, ironically, for someone who was as notorious as Young, he is still working for Havre, with his trust still providing funds for the city 75 years after his death.

Mayer is having tours today and tomorrow, call 399-5225 for more information.