PRAIRIE REST CEMETERY, ASSINIBOIA, SK.
NE 1/4 of Sec. 2 Tp. 8 Rg. 1 W
3rdR.M. of STONEHENGE #73 – 1913 – 1924/1998
On April 20, 1914, the Town of Assiniboia purchased a cemetery site from James B. Smith, located on the southwest corner of the NE 1/4 of Sec. 2, Tp. 8, Rg. 1, W3rd, about a mile and a half west of town. Price paid was $60 per acre with a cash payment of $600. A roadway was also purchased along the southern line of the quarter for direct access to it. Formerly a portion of the John Law homestead, it appears the parcel of land was on occasion referred to as Prairie West Cemetery, but more formally as “Prairie Rest Cemetery”. Apparently on January 03, 1913, Mrs. Augusta A. Zimmerman was interred on this land (as was also an unnamed baby that same year, no relation to the former), denoting it a sacred site, and that fact may well have contributed to the Town choosing this area for a cemetery.
Eventually there came to be a total of 206 people interred at Prairie Rest, but after the inception of Mount Hope in 1924 this site was seldom used. Moreover, starting around 1926 some 51 bodies were moved, sporadically, from this site to new locations, and that, mostly to Mount Hope. As for those who remain, due to legal protocols such as getting permission from relatives to move a body (many having left the area), etc., it was not possible to move everyone, nor did all want their people to be moved. Therefore as of October 1, 2014, there appears to be a total of 155 individuals which remain interred at Prairie Rest. Of these, 49 sites have a store bought marker and many others, by the good graces of Mr. Walter Chipak, now have a makeshift wooden marker.
In any case, most people interred at Prairie Rest are identified on a large bronze plaque situated on the south side of the main entrance at Mount Hope (a more accurate total and spelling of names is found on the Master File). The original wording for this plaque, to be set up at Prairie Rest by the Town of Assiniboia, was proposed by Marlow Ross and approved by Council in March of 1981. Yet, due to costs, varying opinions, accessibility woes, difficulty in gathering names, the project languished for some time. Evidently the plaque was finally purchased in 1985, courtesy of Marlow Ross & Family, and a local farmer, David Meagher, was commissioned to design and construct a sturdy frame of galvanized metal on which to mount the large bronze plaque. Once again time elapsed, until 1990 when the plaque with the original wording
“In memory of the pioneers and their families buried in Prairie Rest Cemetery, 1913 – 1924,”
was erected on the south side of the entry road at Mount Hope. And that, in memory of Thomas & Thirza “Greiner” Ross who served this community for over sixty years, and in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Town of Assiniboia (1987).
As concerns the Prairie Rest cemetery (isolated in the middle of cultivated acres), though fairly well kept, it is simply surrounded by a lackluster fence with a pipe/wire entrance gate of the same caliber at the southeast corner, wired shut. Rather casual. So much for memories!
