This collection of photos was taken last spring on a drive through the country just north of the Cypress Hills in Alberta. The sites I visited on that short afternoon were mainly pioneer cemeteries, a long-time personal favourite theme for roads trips.
Above is Saint George's Parish Cemetery in Irvine. The original Saint George's Anglican Church that established this cemetery can be seen at the Prairie Memories Museum also in Irvine.
Southeast of Irvine...the one and only headstone still standing at Schlaht Cemetery.
"Like a bird, on a wire..." A ring-necked dove on a telephone line just across the road from Schlaht Cemetery.
Pahl Cemetery is only about 20' x 20' square. The simply ornate metal fence that surrounds this small plot has no gate. The only indication of the graves present are mounds and indentations in the ground.
The second site of Salem Evangelical Cemetery*. There are about ten marked graves here. And a few miles south...
...is the original site of Salem Evangelical Cemetery*. All of the graves here have been lost to time.
Saint Peter's German Latvian Cemetery. A handful of markers remain with one grave enclosed by a handsome metal fence. Just down the road is...
...Baptist Freedom Settler's Cemetery. Only four headstones remain and the one shown in the photo is the only one that rises above the tall prairie grass.
At the turn-off to Saint Anne's Cemetery I saw this Yellow-headed Blackbird perched on a cattail in a large pond. It's always a treat to see one as they are getting rare in these parts.
Saint Anne's Cemetery* sits on a hillside along a dead end road. Of all the cemeteries in this area this one seems the most remote. Over the years I don't think I've ever met another vehicle on this road.
I've always been attracted to the "little lamb" markers in the pioneer cemeteries. This is one of the few headstones at Saint Anne's and it bears no surname, only the given name of "Tinkletine."
A little further to the west is the long and narrow Evangelical Cemetery*. The decorative white iron fence stands out dramatically against the landscape.
The silhouette of a robin near...
...Congregational Cemetery*. It's a few miles down a road with a "Summer Road Only" sign.
Saint Alban's Cemetery* has only one remaining marked grave, an old wooden picket fence that can be seen just behind the fence post.
The six cemeteries marked with an asterisk * had their memorial markers erected in the 1990's. The design of the stones had a practical use as well as an act of remembrance...the markers are taller than the prairie grass that grows around them so they can be easily spotted during any season.
I posted an alternative selection of photos and information from this trip about a year ago on BW Bandy's blog "The View from Here." You can see that post here:
Photographed on the afternoon of June 16, 2018.
