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Looking to solve a mystery in Copeland
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November 1, 2012 |
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By Jack Flinn |
I received an interesting email yesterday from
Claudia and David, and I'd like to see if any of
you can shed some light on the mystery.
They live at the old Bill Leech place on Holmes
Road in Copeland, and they say there are several
people buried there, most of them, according to
what they were told, with the last name Ball.
"When Bill bought the place in the 70s," they
wrote, "there were several headstones marking
the graves. When they came back to build, they
had all been removed."
They go on to say they understand that some sort
of colony, perhaps religious, set up in the
area, but they don't remember the name. They
said that back when the river flooded, folks
brought their animals to the property to escape
the high water.
I agree with their assessment that it would be
interesting to know who those people were. They
said there are still rocks there, laid out in a
circle and hard to see, but little else to
indicate what once had been.
"Were there Indians around then, too?" they ask.
This is the first I've heard of it, so I don't
have any answers to give them, but I'm sure
there are folks out there who remember, and I
hope you'll share. Claudia and David's place is
on the road just before Turner Hill Road, going
north, if that helps ring a bell.
If you can shed a little light on this mystery,
shoot me an email,
jflinn@newsbf.com, or use the link below to
have a comment added to this article.
Claudia and David would sure appreciate it, and
to be honest, so would I! |
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Remember this? Add your comment! |
Sharon Smith wrote to let me
know that
familysearch.org lists a Ball family
cemetery in just about the right location, but
it doesn't give much information.
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Hi Jack,
Your article on the cemetery on the Holmes Road
was called to our attention at the Boundary
County Museum.
The museum curator, Sue Kemmis, and I, the
museum field researcher, have both visited the
site and briefed Claudia and David on the
details in the past.
The Alamo Colony existed from 1906 when Reverend
McIntire of The Peoples
United Church in Spokane bought the Ball Ranch
in what would later become
Drainage District 5.
Ranching in the Kootenai Valley proved difficult
after the annual spring river overflows, so the
colony would move their livestock up onto the
bench around Oconook Nana, or Lightening Rock,
for the summer. That bench site is where their
cemetery is located. Some 14 people are thought
to be interred there.
Some graves had headstones, but those were
stolen, leaving us with no record of who is
buried there. The only exception is a young girl
named Ella English, who died in 1906, and was
later exhumed and moved to Grandview Cemetery.
The colony folded about 1911.
Albert Klockmann later owned and diked The
Colony Ranch.
The Colony Cemetery should not be confused with
the Ball Cemetery, a family cemetery some two
miles west, on the breaks of the hills above the
north end of
District 5.
At the museum we have quite a number of modern
photos of the graves and the GPS location, the
same as we attempt to do for all remote
cemeteries and historic locations in Boundary
County. |
Best regards, Terry Howe
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