Maggie Bond, gravedigger
In the 1930s, a Kaslo resident claimed to be the first — and for a time, only — woman in Canada digging graves.
top of page
Search
Greg Nesteroff
Jun 30, 20204 min read
The Abbott mine graves
It was the end of the work day at the Abbott mine on Jan. 8, 1896. The property was at the head of Healy Creek, near Trout Lake, on the...
1,890 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Mar 14, 20197 min read
Murder at Salmo, 1893
Salmo first came to prominence as the result of a bar room murder in 1893. The town — then little more than a cluster of shacks — was...
1,315 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
Feb 28, 20198 min read
A Japanese-Canadian soldier’s grave
The most unusual military grave in the Nelson cemetery is the one seen below, which belongs to Usaku Shibuta, who died at the Balfour...
1,095 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 22, 201912 min read
New Denver’s cemetery story
Despite being such an historic and picturesque site, little has been written about the history of New Denver’s cemetery — until now. This...
1,364 views5 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 24, 20186 min read
5 phantom cemeteries
Of the 100 or so cemeteries in West Kootenay/Boundary, two dozen can no longer be visited because they were either flooded out, exhumed,...
1,297 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Sep 28, 20187 min read
The Bluebell Grave
The dramatic story of the Bluebell murder, how Thomas Hammill (or Hamill, or Hammil) died near present-day Riondel on Kootenay Lake,...
2,581 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 3, 20187 min read
Ici repose: The Hamel family of Comaplix
One of most poignant epitaphs I’ve ever seen appears on twin gravemarkers in West Kootenay’s most remote cemetery. The Hamel siblings,...
1,406 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
Jun 15, 20186 min read
New findings about Ainsworth’s oldest grave
In 2008, I wrote a story for Route 3 magazine about the Thomas (or Tomas) Higstrim grave at Ainsworth Hot Springs, which dates to 1891...
1,230 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
Mar 8, 20182 min read
The burial of Sam McGee
Sam McGee wasn’t cremated in the Yukon — he was buried in Kaslo. Here’s his grave marker to prove it, as it appeared in 2008: I say this...
830 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Feb 4, 20189 min read
Death on the Dewdney Trail
In 1989, Donna Bishop and Joan Field produced a report for the Salmo Arts and Museum Society entitled Dewdney Trail 1865. They wrote the...
1,735 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 23, 20186 min read
A Slocan madam’s grave
There’s an oft-heard tale about the burial of a black brothel keeper in the Slocan cemetery. According to the Castlegar News of June 24,...
954 views3 comments
bottom of page