David Montgomery

FORT PIERRE — Every year, large numbers of genealogical researchers come to Pierre, looking for their ancestors in some of genealogy’s most valuable treasure troves: cemeteries. But finding particular headstones is unusually difficult for visitors to one of the area’s oldest graveyards, Cedar Hill Cemetery in Fort Pierre.

The original lot and block markers in Cedar Hill are faded or gone altogether, victim to time’s ravages. But now local genealogists and historians are applauding the decision by the city of Fort Pierre to conduct a survey to restore order to Cedar Hill.

David Montgomery | Capital Journal Headstones in Fort Pierre’s Cedar Hill Cemetery sit surrounded by tall grass. The cemetery, owned by the city of Fort Pierre, is being surveyed to replace missing lot markers so visitors can find graves more easily. Advertisement

For genealogical researchers, cemeteries can be one of the most important tools in mapping out a family tree.

“That’s where you begin to get into it,” said Bob Townsend, a Pierre resident who researches genealogy. “You’ll find all the people with the same name, for example. You have to go to a cemetery just to find the dates of birth and death.”

Jim Fahey is the superintendent at Riverside Cemetery in Pierre. He said well-ordered cemeteries are increasingly important.

“I’ve been doing cemetery work for over 30 years, and the interest in cemeteries has grown considerably,” Fahey said. “There’s a lot more people nowadays interested in finding relatives than I’ve ever seen.”

But visitors to Cedar Hill — several miles outside of Fort Pierre on dirt roads — can have difficulty tracking down particular graves.

“You’re not able to find some of the block corners,” said Fort Pierre Mayor Sam Tidball. “We have a listing and we have the burial plots, and they’re all numbered. It’s easy enough once you have the block and lots marked adequately. Then it’ll be pretty easy for people to find. Otherwise people have to do some searching or measuring to figure it out.”

The block markings disappear for a variety of reasons, said Ken Stewart, a historian with the South Dakota State Historical Society.

“Just like a plat map for a town, cemeteries are divided into blocks and lots,” Stewart said. “Over the years, many of those markers disappear or are buried — or sometimes just sink into the ground. If you look at the terrain at Cedar Hill Cemetery, any of the above can happen.”

The city of Fort Pierre controls the Cedar Hill cemetery and oversees its maintenance using proceeds from a permanent fund of approximately $30,000.

At its March 16 meeting, the Fort Pierre City Council voted to hire a surveyor to map out the cemetery and replace the block markers.

“The city owns the cemetery, and certainly we have a responsibility for maintaining it so it’s a nice place so people can come there and visit the graves of their family and so forth,” Tidball said. “The survey will mark (block corners) out and put new markers so people will know where the corners are, so they can locate specific graves.”

Local genealogists and historians say they applaud Fort Pierre for conducting the survey.

“It’ll be helpful,” Fahey said.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” said Stewart. “It shows that the city of Fort Pierre is interested in preserving what is not only an important cemetery but also an important historical landmark. Many members of the more prominent families of historical Fort Pierre are buried there. There’s also about 20 veterans. You don’t want to forget about them. Anything that is done to preserve the cemetery is a positive thing.”