Established by the Silver Bow County Masons in 1877, Mount Moriah Cemetery is one of three cemeteries located on Montana Street in Butte, Silver Bow County. 58 acres in size, this historic cemetery is very well maintained and has approximately 14,430 known interments, including two famous interments, those of U.S. Congressmen Albert James Campbell and Lee Theophilus Mantle.
Mount Moriah Cemetery has towering pine trees throughout and along the roadways and front entrance. The first known interment is Bettie Fant Boyce, born in Kentucky on March 15, 1846, who passed away September 29, 1877 at the age of 31 years.
Mount Moriah Cemetery is rich is history, with many broken columns, towering family plot markers, and an outside mausoleum towards the back of the cemetery. There was one death mask that we located, that of Gen. Charles S. Warren, and interestingly the grave of J. Frank Beck with a sculpture of his faithful dog.
Beginning in the 1970s, the cemetery began to be visited by a man in a wheelchair - a man who, it transpires, was never really there, though many witnesses state that they have seen him.
This Haunted Cemetery In Montana Is Not For
the Faint of Heart
It’s safe to say that people’s imaginations tend to be a bit active when they’re at a cemetery. And most of the time, the strange things they see or noises they hear really are their minds playing tricks on them. But some people who visit the Mount Moriah Cemetery in Butte who have paranormal experiences might not be imagining things. It seems that this haunted cemetery in Montana has a story to tell.
It’s unsurprising that the city of Butte would have a haunted cemetery. This old mining town is known for its ghosts, from the Copper King Mansion spirits to the ghosts of the madames said to haunt the old Dumas Brothel.
The first known witnesses to experience anything at the Mount Moriah Cemetery were two police officers in the 1970s. They were patrolling the property one night when they both saw someone in a wheelchair pass through the locked gates of the cemetery. They even ran over to the gate to see if whoever it was needed help. Not only had the wheelchair-bound spirit disappeared, but they found no sign of him and no wheelchair tracks in the snow.
Since then, many other people have reported seeing the ghost in the wheelchair in different parts of the cemetery, both during the day and at night.
Could this be a restless spirit whose body is buried at Mount Moriah? Is it the ghost of someone who’s still looking for a long-lost friend or family member, even after death? Is the apparition a figment of everyone’s imagination? We’re not sure, but it is interesting that BOTH police officers saw the same thing and thought it was real.
From Only in Your State