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NOTICE
The time has come! Eight years ago the Prairie Winds Caches were published for "Best of the Bad" Mega, and 2 cache owner groups have been maintaining them. It is time to archive the series, but we would like more people to receive a Prairie Winds coin first.
NOTE: All the Prairie Winds caches will be archived as of the 8th of September, 2020.
The new requirement is: You must have logged, as found, at least 20 Prairie Winds caches to earn a Prairie Winds geocoin. Once you qualify (before September 8, 2020), contact cache owner at lthbridge@gmail.com to receive a coin.
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The international boundary along the 49 parallel was established by the Treaty of 1818 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The North West Territories became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905.
That was the same year that the Catholic residents from Coutts and Sweetgrass area established the Holy Angels Catholic Church at this location. The church, with its large bell, served the parishioners from both countries until 1970. This cemetery has been the final resting place for many for just as long.
In 1970, a new Catholic church was built in the same location but the bell was not re-installed until 1978. The church was used until 2002, when it was sold to the Village of Coutts and the cemetery became a community cemetery. After the upgrading of the cemetery in 2002, the original church bell was returned to this location. The landscaping and mounting of the bell with historic information panels makes this cemetery a peaceful place to visit, remember family members or just to wander and wonder what life was like back then.
Before you enter the cemetery gate, look to your left about a half block. Just beyond the cemetery fence, you will see an obelisk marking the international border between Coutts, AB Canada and Sweetgrass, Montana, USA. In the early years, that was all that it took to mark the boundary and people moved back and forth freely. Now, there is the Coutts/Sweetgrass international border crossing just east of this location. Please do not go past the boundary marker or you will be entering the USA illegally.