Dixon cemetery cleaned up for Memorial Day

Rest in Peace is a time-honored saying wishing the dearly departed well.

For Veterans it is a sacred honor and right to be buried in a proper place of peace and serenity.

With that in mind, it was easy to see why the little cemetery in the hills north of the tiny town of Dixon, with the splendid view of towering, snow-capped mountains and rolling pastures feeding cattle in the fields below was chosen as a place of quiet and serenity.

But that was more than 100 years ago and in the interim the burial grounds have fallen into a state of disrepair with weeds masking the marker stones that are the final resting place to several dozen area residents, including several veterans.

The isolation of the place, located adjacent to the National Bison Range, which is home to the mighty beasts who once covered the hills and prairies of Montana, has been harmonious to the point of being overlooked if not forgotten.

But thanks to the efforts of a handful of Veterans and several members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the burial grounds received a sprucing up this past week in honor of Memorial Day and those who served the country.

Armed with weed whackers and elbow grease, the volunteers fanned out and began the task of tidying up the grounds on a cold but clear Monday morning. And as a special tribute all of the graves of the approximately 10 veterans buried there were adorned with small American flags.

“This truly is a special place,” said Plains resident Janet Oelschlager as she walked among the headstones and even wooden crosses that show the effects of weathering. “There are some super people who do what they can each year to try and take care of this place”.

Oelschlager, who once lived in the area around Dixon, has several family members buried in the secluded cemetery, including her dad, mom and brother, who lie in a plot in the middle of the site.

“It’s been harder and harder to get up here and this place doesn’t get the routine care it deserves,” said her husband, Charles “Ole” Oelschalger as he took a break from manning one of the weed eaters that filled the normally serene hillside with their cutting sounds. “We try to get up here at least once a year if we can”.

Oelschlager, who put up a refurbished sign and hoisted an American flag at the entrance to the cemetery while others stood in silence, hand over heart, is himself a veteran of the Navy, and served on a ship that was part of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and subsequent blockade of Cuba by United States warships.

“We do this out of respect for veterans,” he said. “Nobody really comes up here much to take care of the place on a routine basis, but we do what we can”.

The cemetery sits on a site that requires visitors to pass through a barbed wire gate after going up a winding dirt road. Some of the grave stones inside the grounds mark the places of rest for residents who died near the turn of the 20th century. A small number of grave markers are wooden crosses whose names and paint have long been erased by winds, rain and snow.

“T his is a beautiful place with amazing views,” said Mrs. Olegschlager. “If having a beautiful place is part of resting in peace, this was a good choice. Just hope folks will continue to keep it up in the years ahead”.