Ghosts, Myths and Legends:
A series of "13" caches commemorating 13 years of the Doors Open Heritage Festival in the Crowsnest Pass
The moody, picturesque Bellevue Union Cemetery opened around 1918. To find it, drive to 215th Street in Bellevue, then drive or walk up 27th Avenue along an unimproved road under power lines for 500 metres.
Park at the south end of the cemetery, as there is no place to park or turn around beyond. The north end of this cemetery floods, so is best visited in late fall; nevertheless its many fenced plots and forlorn unkemptness make it a pleasure to visit – but bring bug spray. Water mitigation is planned for 2019 which should make parts of this cemetery easier to visit.
Buried in the Bellevue Union Cemetery is Russian immigrant George Arkoff (-1920), sometimes spelled Akroff, was killed in the famous shootout at the Bellevue Café on August 7, 1920.
He and two others had robbed a train at gunpoint near Sentinel (about 15km to the west); later, two of the robbers were spotted in the Bellevue Café. In a botched attempt at arrest, Akroff and two policemen were killed during a gunfight that started inside the café and moved into the street. According to the Blairmore Enterprise, Akroff was “buried quite unceremoniously at Bellevue”, so probably never had a grave marker.