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Six feet under and no place to go
11/05/08
Normally I do not respond to Letters to the Editor, as I believe readers should be given the right and courtesy to sound off without worry of subsequent babble from newspaper writers who work in comfort and luxury of always having the last word.
But Tim Lasiuta’s letter in the Express last week struck an interesting chord.
His thoughtful point of view about the loss of heritage in the community at the expense of progress is timely, not only in relation to the Arlington Hotel but to any pioneer institution that has or is facing demolition and government indifference for our past.
Last week we also reported on the archaeological dig at the long forgotten cemetery near the former Red Deer Industrial School site.
The Alberta government is putting forth the impression the site has to be fully assessed in order for a proposed 55-lot residential development to proceed. I suppose this is to immediately remove any notion by some that the province cares more about progress than its history
But this week we can report on another example of what appears to be government indifference to our past, of what Lasiuta so passionately and eloquently mourns about in his letter.
There are two additional final resting place sites in Red Deer – the city’s very first graveyard when it was just a little frontier village as well as a pioneer First Nations cemetery, that have apparently been lost or forgotten or just ignored.
In the early 1990s, the graveyards, located near the intersection of Taylor Dr. and 43 St., were casually paved over – with apparent provincial government consent - when the area was redeveloped.
This is the same site where fugitive killer Ole Mickelson was buried after losing a sensational gun battle to authorities in 1892. He was accidentally dug up in 1952 when they were building the Brewery building.
No one knows what happened to his remains after that. It is also the final resting place of Marcella Clemons DeJournal, the young daughter of Ferdinand, a local pioneer who once ran a store in Red Deer and then left to the Klondike to earn a fortune. He ended up being a wealthy lawyer in San Francisco.
It certainly sounds to me like there is significant historical stuff here.
On a more personal note, the two cemeteries are quite possibly under the old Brewery building here at the Express. The thought of typing out this column while forgotten bodies are possibly under my desk is a bit unnerving.
It is likely that visitors to the Brewery walk over the final resting places of many each and every day.
And when you are driving your vehicle near the corner of Taylor Dr. and 43 St. you are most certainly moving over the grave sites of local pioneer citizens.
Kind of a chilling thought isn’t it?
But Michael Dawe, the city’s most excellent historian and chief archivist at the Red Deer and District Archives, is calling on the province to right a wrong he insists it made 18 years ago – choosing not to undertake a historical assessment of the two cemeteries when asked.
This request, says Dawe, was made as the city was undertaking a major development on the west side of the city for the construction of Taylor Dr.
What is interesting here is that while the province is now showing admirable interest in the welfare of cemeteries, including the one near the old Red Deer Industrial School site, it apparently had no interest 18 years ago in ensuring Red Deer’s first cemetery received protection.
Dawe says engineers working on the project were told by the Alberta government the province had no record of any cemetery near the corner of what is now Taylor Dr. and 43 St. End of story – let the development and progress go ahead at full speed.
Today government officials are saying it never received the information about the cemeteries in 1990.
But the Alberta government, now wanting everyone to believe it deeply cares about the province’s heritage, is claiming it does care about Red Deer’s very first final resting place and that Dawe or any city official can make it known to government that it wants a full assessment at the site.
The problem is that we have two provincial government departments in the mix – the Culture and Community Spirit, and Service Alberta ministries.
The former watches over Alberta’s historical resources while the latter claims to be guardian of the province’s cemeteries.
But in a province where government ministries change their names and mandates as often as changing their clothes does it really surprise anyone that Edmonton officials can’t find the original request about the cemeteries?
Add bureaucratic red tape to this mix, and it is difficult to believe any sort of assessment will ever be made.
It s enough of a headache to cause Ole Mickelson to roll over in his grave – wherever that now is.
jbachusky@reddeer.greatwest.ca 403-309-5456
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR INVITED |
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Letters to the editor are welcomed by the Red Deer Express, especially new contributors. We attempt
to publish a cross-section of public opinion. Preference is given to short letters of broad interest or concern.
Letters addressed to others are seldom used. We reserve the right to edit for length, taste, clarity and to
eliminate inaccurate or libelous statements. |
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