GREAT FALLS — An annual tour at Highland Cemetery in Great Falls gives participants a chance to meet some of the city's most prominent historical figures — portrayed by local storytellers at their graves.
(WATCH: Waking the Dead returns to bring Great Falls history to life)
The Waking the Dead Tour returns Sunday, June 21, bringing figures like Paris Gibson and Charlie Russell back to life through live performances throughout the cemetery.
"We do it for the benefit of the park and rec department," Norma Ashby Smith said.
Ashby Smith, a Montana broadcasting icon, has been involved with Waking the Dead since it began. Her husband, Dwight Smith, is among this year's storytellers. He will portray World War I veteran Billy Kennedy.
"When he got to France, he fought in eight major battles and survived. But he was only 18 and 19 years of age. And 15, he was down on the, Mexican border, chasing Pancho Villa," Dwight Smith said.
Tours are available at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 for the walking trail, or $20 to include a hayride through the cemetery. Tickets are available in advance at Kaufmans Menswear.
"Everybody lines up and gets on these trailers and, some people enjoy walking down through the cemeteries of Highland Cemetery in Great Falls, and we'll have about 12 storytellers at the graves," Ashby Smith said.
The event also highlights the historical significance of the cemetery itself, which includes a 5-acre plot of more than 1,000 unmarked graves and serves as the final resting place of veterans from World Wars I and II and the Civil War.
"Some people think history is boring. Some students, probably. But this brings them alive and shows what they did for the city and what they did for the state of Montana," Dwight Smith said.
