Larry, I believe your sister and Brother-in-law are Audrey and Lowell Leonard. Enjoy your time in the Dunseith area. It will be a whirl wind trip indeed.

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Dunseith Cemetery Story

 

A strange thing happened at St Louis Cemetery just south of Dunseith in the year of 1992.Actually, I know a lot of strange things that happened at that cemetery and I know most of you do too.But, this is the only thing that I know of that happened in 1992.

The story actually begins much earlier and begins with the death of my father in the fall of 1980.After his death and burial, my brothers and sisters and I arranged for a marble headstone and footstones to be placed on the Hackman burial plot, to mark the graves of Dad, Grandpa and Grandma Hackman and his Brothers that had passed on, and for the bachelor uncles and my mother that eventually would be buried at the site.The next spring after the grave markers were installed, my brothers and sisters and spouses met at the grave site to visit Dad and the other relatives buried in the area.We also planted two red peony plants in honor of the occasion.One at the south end of the headstone and one at the north end.The south peony always thrived at that location and the northern one always struggled and eventually died in the year of 1991.

In the spring of 1992 my wife and I went up to Siebel’s Greenhouse in Harvey, ND and picked out a potentilla bush to replace the peony.Thinking the potentilla bush would withstand the climate up on the hill much better than the peony.I dug the plant in carefully, making sure it had plenty of loose soil around its root system, and even fetched a five gallon pail of water from Willow Creek that flows below the hill to give it a good soaking before we left the site.Knowing that the water from that creek, with all the nutriments that it gathers from the Turtle Mountains, and farm yards would give that plant an extra boost.After leaving the cemetery, as always, we stopped at Dale’s Truck Stop to wash our hands and to enjoy a jumbo burger before leaving Dunseith.

We never made it back up to Dunseith all summer.Towards the end of August my mother called and asked if we had been up to the cemetery in Dunseith.We said no we hadn’t been up there since May.She asked if we had replaced the peony that had died.We said that we had, and told her, we had replaced it with a potentilla bush with yellow flowers. She said well, if you got time, you better go up and take a look at it.I questioned her as to why, and she would only laugh and kept on saying that I better go look at it, and she added, make sure that you take a camera along.

Yes,

the plant apparently died, and apparently a tomato plant grew.

I can’t imagine that really happening after growing a vegetable gardens most of my life, and all the trouble I had growing tomato plants.

I guess, I should have been trying to grow potentilla plants, forgot about them and then just went and harvested the tomatos in the fall.Must have been something in that creek water.And no, the tomato plant did not come back the following year, nor did the potentilla bush. No, we did not pick the tomatoes; we left them for the departed.I wonder if that Nerpel kid from the class of 65 wasn’t out playing tricks again?

Remember to laugh,

Larry

Connie Bad Moccasin (November 9, 1959 – July 9, 2011) Guest Book | Sign Guest Book | Send Flowers CONNIE BADMOCCASIN Connie BadMoccasin, age 51 of Dunseith, died in her home on Saturday. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday at 10:00 A.M. in the Peace Lutheran Church in Dunseith. A wake will be held on Tuesday beginning at 4:00 P.M. in the Peace Lutheran Church of Dunseith. Connie Bad Moccasin, a daughter of Francis (Eagle heart) and Rose(Old Eagle woman) (Machipiness) Cree, was born on November 9th 1959 at Belcourt. She was reared and attended school in the Dunseith area, graduating from Dunseith High school. After her graduation she attend United Tribes College in Bismarck. On February 26, 1975 she was married to Einer Bad Moccasin at Dunseith. They later parted ways. She worked for a time at Park River helping with Sugar Beets and Potatoes. Later she returned to the Dunseith area where she met Oliver Eagleman and raised her children. She was a member of the Indian Alliance Church of rural Dunseith. Connie enjoyed making moccasins, birch bark baskets, doing bead work and going to the casino. She also enjoyed spending time with her children, grandchildren and family. Connie passed away on Saturday, July 9th 2011 in her home. she is survived by her daughters, Natashe Eagleman, Ayesha Eagleman both of Dunseith and Naveena Bad Moccasin of Fergus Falls, MN; a son Thomas Bad Moccasin of Yorkton, SK; grandchildren, Israel Cree-Eagleman, Amari Brown, Cordae Cree and Evaleena Owens; sisters, Doris Peltier, Darlene Belcourt, Debbie LaRocque, Carol Cree, Brenda Cree all of Dunseith and Rebecca LaFromboise of Mandan; brothers, Henry Cree of Belcourt and Arnold Cree of Dunseith. Connie is preceded in death by her parents; a grandson, Allan M. (Rising Sun) Poitra Jr. brothers, Melvin, Ronnie, Gerald, Victor, and Leonard; sister, Priscilla Machipiness; adoptive brothers, Melvin Jr., Patrick and Michael Cree Sr. and Ronald Long Claws.

I can indentify two in the front row, Shirley Houle is the one holding something and the angel on the right is her sister Sharon Houle.

 

Your cousin–Carmen

 

Back Rows:

Front Row: Shirley Houle, Sharon Houl, ? Girl, ? Girl, Larry Liere