Fort Buford Cemetery Walk This Weekend | Video

Evan Kruegel | 10/19/2012

Whether you`re looking to learn some local history, or just looking to get into the Halloween spirit, the Fort Buford Cemetery Walk has you covered.

"It just gives you a little taste of history, with a little bit of spook in it," said Assistant Site Supervisor Kerry Finsaas.

Historical re-enactments will be staged throughout the graveyard, giving a first-hand look into the lives of the 20 bodies still buried at the cemetery. Stories are told from a historical point of view, not meant to scare children. The site served as the final resting place for Fort Buford locals from 1866, to 1894, placing some of the graves at almost 150 years old. You might wonder how the historic site knows anything about the cemeteries deceased occupants, but they`ve got it covered.

"We have a wonderful book down at the confluence that Ben Ennis wrote on the Fort Buford cemetery that goes through and gives a list of the grave numbers, the names, and a little history on each one,” said Finsaas.

The book gets right down to why each person died, allowing for some insightful re-enactments.

"That`s the fun part is when you dig back in history you find all sorts of fascinating things. We have a list of different diseases they died from, anything from dropsy, cholera, meningitis, consumption, suicide, scalping, you name it. There`s a whole list of things and it makes the stories a little more interesting."

The family-friendly event had over 200 attendees last year, so if you plan on checking it out, you might want to get there early.

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