Andy McCracken, a septuagenarian, takes a moment before dialing his late father’s number on an antique rotary phone on a sunny day in late July. Speaking into the disconnected landline housed in a small wooden structure next to a graveyard in Alberta’s Rocky Mountain foothills, he communicates through a “wind phone” – a symbolic device enabling one-way conversations between the living and the deceased.
Positioned at Mountain Park Cemetery in Yellowhead County, the highest elevation burial ground in Canada, the wind phone stands at nearly 1,900 meters above sea level, making it the loftiest wind phone in North America. Yellowhead County recently installed this unique communication tool in Mountain Park.
When the time arrives for Andy McCracken and his wife Anne McCracken to be interred, their ashes will rest at Mountain Park. Inhabiting Edson, Alta., the couple qualifies for a plot due to Andy’s roots in a Coal Branch town near Mountain Park, where his father served as the mine doctor.
Expressing gratitude to his father, Andy McCracken shares words of love and remembrance through the wind phone, saying, “I just want to thank you for delivering me in Luscar, Alta., in 1953 and to be able to keep us enjoying the mountains. Lots of love Daddo, thank you, bye – and say hello to Mum.”
Established in 1911 as the terminus of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway line, Mountain Park thrived until the coal mine ceased operations in 1950. At its peak, the community boasted 1,000 residents residing in 100 homes. Today, only the cemetery remains, with 269 documented interments dating back to 1913.
During an interview at the cemetery, Madison Sharman, heritage coordinator for Yellowhead County, highlighted the town’s history, including its reliance on the railway for connectivity. She noted how the train tracks split off at a specific spot, emphasizing the town’s dependence on the railway as its lifeline.
The cemetery, with its vivid history, reflects the challenges and hardships faced by early settlers in the subalpine region. Pat Rausch, a visitor since 1963, acknowledged the poignant infant burial sites, recalling the harsh realities of the past. Tragic events like the Spanish flu pandemic and mining accidents left lasting scars on the community.
Over the years, efforts led by volunteers, including former residents like Mary Salzsauler, have revitalized Mountain Park Cemetery. The McCrackens, among those who contributed to the restoration, chose a plot overlooking Cheviot Mountain as their final resting place.
Visiting their designated spot in the cemetery, the McCrackens find solace in the thought of being laid to rest in such a serene setting. For Andy McCracken, a nature enthusiast and former park ranger, this location symbolizes a return to his roots, reconnecting him with the mountains where he was born and where his father once roamed.
Under the care of Yellowhead County, Mountain Park Cemetery continues to preserve the legacy of those buried there while accommodating new cremation interments for local residents. Notable figures like Frank and Agnes Lovsin, founders of Freson Bros., and John Mitchell, a decorated D-Day veteran, find their final resting places among the cemetery’s historic grounds.
Madison Sharman, reflecting on the cemetery’s welcoming spirit, expressed a desire for guests to engage with the history and stories embedded within the gravesites. The wind phone, a recent addition to Mountain Park, serves as a poignant reminder that love transcends farewells, memories endure, and every spoken tale becomes a part of the landscape once more.
