Heritage Tourism Council visits with Cemetery District trustees at Lincoln meeting

The Lewis and Clark County Heritage Tourism Council held their August meeting in Lincoln, with members taking the opportunity to visit the historic Lincoln Gulch Cemetery and meet with the newly established Lincoln Cemetery District Board of Trustees.

The Lewis and Clark County Commission approved a resolution April 20 to formally create the administrative board for Lincoln's two cemeteries, a decision that ended a process begun in 2016 with the transfer of the old Lincoln Gulch Cemetery from the U.S. Forest Service to Lewis and Clark County. Commissioners took the first step to create the cemetery district in August, 2016 and appointed the trustees in January, 2017, but it was never formalized with a resolution. Changes in state statutes in 2017 and a decision to expand the district's scope to include the lower cemetery on Morris Road led the county to revisit the creation of the Cemetery District this year.

HTC members Laura Evilsizer, Patrick Rieley and County Historic Preservation Officer Pam Attardo, arrived ahead of the meeting for a look at the Lincoln Gulch Cemetery with Trustee Sue Murphy. Murphy explained some of the challenges of managing the historic cemetery, including weed control, removal of dead and dying trees that have fallen victim to Mountain Pine Beetle and Spruce Budworm and concerns about preserving the pioneer-era graves.

Later in the afternoon, HTC member Tom O'Connell and Chairman Mike Shields arrived for the council meeting at the Lincoln Library. The council dealt briefly with items outside Lincoln, such as the National Register nomination of Silver City cemetery- the only remnant of the town- and the future of the East Helena Depot, but focused primarily on input on the cemetery and Lincoln heritage issues.

During the meeting, cemetery board Chairperson Bonnie Shown re-iterated concerns about a installation of a picket fence marking the boundary between the pioneer era cemetery and the newer section of the cemetery. The fence is specified in the memorandum of agreement with the Forest Service that was part of the old cemetery's conveyance to the county.

Shown argued the fence isn't necessary and is opposed by families who have relatives who were buried in the older part of the cemetery in the mid- to late-20th Century.

"Everybody that has family up in the cemetery, that's interested in the cemetery, has said you can't fence it," Shown told Attardo before the cemetery visit. Shown said there's also no need for the fence as a deterrent to new burials in the historic section.

"They would be have to be midnight burials, because the whole town knows how important the historic part of the cemetery is to us."

Attardo, a signatory on the MOA, said if the board doesn't feel the fence is appropriate, they can make the call to forgo it.

At the cemetery Evilsizer noted the two rock cairns that were part of the old cemetery gate. As a compromise she suggested creating similar smaller cairns that could delineate the Lincoln Gulch mining era burials.

"It's a visual marker, showing where the old cemetery is, from the more recent burials," she said.

Three small picket fences built around graves during the mining era were also discussed. The fences have stood for about 150 years, but have deteriorated badly and one collapsing completely during the winter of 2017-18.

Although she agree local woodworkers could closely recreate the fence, Attardo explained that under the MOA they must follow Secretary of the Interior preservation standards as part of the Forest Service effort to see the original cemetery included on the National Register of Historical Places. That means a professional restoration specialist would need to oversee any restoration work on the fences. Attardo said she would talk to the County commission and the state historic preservation office about who would be required to cover the cost of that.

The meeting delved into other local heritage concerns as well.

Upper Blackfoot Valley Historical Society President Erin Dey spoke about the history of the Matt King house and the efforts to reconstruct it in town as a showcase for Lincoln history and as a draw for visitors. The UBVHS has nearly finalized purchase of property in town for reconstruction of the building, but Dey noted there are concerns about the condition of the building's hand-hewn Ponderosa pine logs, which have been stacked for several years.

Attardo suggested a few log specialists who might be able to evaluate the condition of the logs.

Shields, who visited Sculpture in the Wild before the meeting, expressed his appreciation for the park, which won the states Heritage and Cultural Tourism award this year.

"I just want to complement the whole community. You got your award during the summer and you earned it, you earned it really well," he said. "It's neat. It's fun."