How It All Began

One of the most well-known stories about Sunset Hills Cemetery is about Mary Blackmore, who died suddenly on July 19, 1872. Mary was married to a rich English man named William Blackmore, who invested in railroads. They were traveling to Yellowstone National Park when Mary got very sick during a stagecoach ride from Helena to Bozeman. She was taken to live with Lester and Emma Wilson to get better, while her husband went on to the park.

Sadly, Mary died just a few days later. William came back to bury her on a hill that looked over the town. Not long after, William met a rancher named Nelson Story. Story told William that Mary’s grave was actually on land owned by a man named Daniel E. Rouse. William asked Story to lead a group to buy the land so it could be used as a public cemetery.

On December 1, 1872, Story, Lester Wilson, Charles Rich, and John Mendenhall paid $250 to buy the land from Rouse. The money most likely came from William Blackmore. William also sent instructions to build a special tomb over Mary’s grave, which had a pyramid-shaped tombstone.

For some reason, the Wilson family never built the tomb. Later, they mistakenly thought William and Mary were titled “Lord and Lady Blackmore,” like British royalty.

Years later, the Wilson family put a plaque on Mary’s tombstone calling them “Lord and Lady Blackmore.” They also said William bought the land to thank the town for caring for Mary when she was sick. (This story comes from the Sunset Hills Cemetery booklet, which you can get at City Hall or the Cemetery office.)

If you walk through the oldest part of the cemetery, you’ll see graves of many important people from Bozeman and Gallatin Valley history, like Bozeman, Story, Rouse, and Mendenhall. These people helped build the city we love today.