Eternal View Mystery Cache
NPHorizons: Greeting montanascarecrow,
I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in the last reviewer note.
Sincerely,
NPHorizons
Community Volunteer Reviewer for Geocaching.com
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Cemetery Island Recreation Area is located in southwest Montana on Canyon Ferry Reservoir. The island is accessible by boat only. This is a day use area offering fishing enjoyment for the angler.
Here’s a short tidbit of history about this area. The Missouri River winding its way through the Canton Valley, still green with cottonwood trees standing along the river bank. American Indians have known this place through time — the petroglyphs in the Big Belt Mountains are older than the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Lewis and Clark made their way through these hills in 1806. Trappers followed, as did the miners, who established 1860s boom towns that have long since vanished.
Among those boomtowns was Canyon Ferry, a small supply hub established by Court Sheriff in 1865 to serve nearby mining camps and farms. The location soon included a hotel and livery, and it provided a stop on the road between Helena and Diamond City, as well as an important crossing of the upper Missouri River. But in 1955, the old town site was submerged after the construction of Canyon Ferry Dam. The area around Cemetery Island was once known as Black Rock Canyon and now lies below in 120 feet of water.
No one has set eyes on the town of Canyon Ferry for more than half a century. All that remains of the station and the role it played in Montana’s frontier history is the graveyard on Cemetery Island, where a few inhabitants were buried as early as 1874.
As you near the island you can hear the waves lapping at the rocky cliffs of Cemetery Island.
The sounds would have been much different back in 1865 when Court Sheriff arrived in Helena. Picks and shovels against the hardened earth, the rattle of wagons over rocky roads, and raucous cheers from the saloons. Gold had been discovered the year before and business was ripe for the taking.
Early on, Sheriff hired out as a carpenter and worked a flume construction project in the Magpie area. Back then, Cavetown was the only community in the area, and Sheriff quickly rose to prominence, buying out the local mercantile.
The ambitious newcomer didn’t stop there. He followed by opening Cavetown’s hotel and livery. Perched just below Black Rock Canyon, the community was also home to a ferry crossing. As a result, Cavetown soon became known as Canyon Ferry, and Sheriff owned much of it.
Now it all lies under water.
The shoreline of Cemetery Island rises fast from deep water. Luckily there’s a small beach on the north side. It’s the perfect place to land a kayak and march up the hill toward the graveyard.
The prickly pear cacti are thick, as is the sage. Mushrooms with billowing white heads peak out from the shadows, which, without the sun, have yet to fully develop.
The island is approximately five acres in size and the cemetery occupies a small patch of verdant ground at the highest point. Surrounded by a post fence, the cemetery is no larger than a city yard, and it includes a smattering of broken headstones and grave markers dating back to 1866.
The names include members of the Byrd family, the most recent being Walker Byrd, who was shot and killed in a Helena alley in January 2000. There lies Henry Conable, who died in 1918, and his wife, Florida Clemens, who died in 1886. The Hortop family is there, including Richard, Annie and Wright, the last of whom who was just 22 when he died. Annie and Richard passed on within one year of each other in 1904 and 1905. Clara, “dedicated wife of James Bompar,” died in 1884. Other“dedicated and loving” wives and “kind and affectionate” daughters are also here. The wrought-iron railings are ornate and the headstones — the older ones — are sun bleached and covered with lichen.
The cemetery provides a brief glimpse back in time,” a sign posted by the Bureau of Reclamation reads. “The oldest recorded burial was in 1874, although older ones are probable.”
This is a easy find when you get the final Coordinates.
Final stage:
N46* 38.A
W111* 42.B
A = 1.564 divided by Joseph Huffer age at death.
B = Year of "son of james & julie's" birth minus 1489
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)