The Most Unusual Grave And Memorial I've Ever Encountered

This is the grave of Brandon Irvin Big Leggins, Sr.  It is located in a small Native American
cemetery near Chelsea, Montana and within the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
(click any image to enlarge)

On my recent road trip, I chose to drive U.S. Route 2 east from central Montana.  One often thinks of Montana with mountains and beautiful scenery.  A place that is a landscape photographer's dream.  But central and eastern Montana is pretty flat and devoid of a lot of what I would call good subjects for landscape photography.  It is very similar to central and eastern Colorado—pretty flat.  Instead of looking for landscapes to photograph, I turned my attention to other things, such as old abandoned schools, small white clapboard churches out in the middle of nowhere, cemeteries, old abandoned ranch properties, old grain elevators and some railroad related subjects.  

In eastern Montana I discovered this small, Native American cemetery next to the Minisdah Presbyterian Church.  You can see a couple of images of the church here if you are interested.  This cemetery is very unusual, probably the most unusual of the dozens and dozens of cemeteries I've visited across the United States for my Cemetery Project which can be found on my website.  Some gravesites in this cemetery are highly decorated with artificial flowers, colorful toy windmills, solar powered lights, toys, books, candles, even beer cans.  Other graves have fallen into total disrepair with no indication of who might be interred there.  However,..

The most unusual grave I think I've ever encountered is the one highlighted in this post.  It is the grave of Brandon Irvin Big Leggins, Sr. who passed away at age 39 years of age.  Way too young for anyone to die, in my opinion.

There are two things about Brandon's grave and memorial that are very unusual.  First, as you can see in the image at the top of this post, there is a full length artist’s rendition of him that lies on top of his gravesite.  I have never ever seen anything like that before.  I have seen small photos made of ceramic of the deceased in some recent graves but nothing that is full length and covers the gravesite.  Very Unusual, indeed.

The second thing I found quite remarkable is Mr. Big Leggins' epitaph.  It reads, “Life never got tired of beating me, until death came, hugged me & told me I’d finally be at peace.”   Mr. Big Leggins must have suffered throughout his lifetime to welcome death as is written on his epitaph.  I have to feel badly for him to want to welcome death at such an early age.  Again, very unusual.

Brandon’s epitaph reads, “Life never got tired of beating me, until death came, hugged me & told
me I’d finally be at peace.”  All I can say is that his epitaph is so sad.  I have to wonder what 
happened during his lifetime and why he welcomed death at age 39.

On the name plate in the photo below the word Wastélakapi appears.  I had no idea as to the meaning of that word so I found a Lakota Sioux to English dictionary online. Evidently,   Wastélakapi means 'beloved' in the Lakota Sioux language.  It may have other meanings but this one seemed to fit a grave and memorial.

A smaller photo and name plate left by the funeral home when Mr. Big Leggins was buried.

Again, this is the most unusual grave and memorial I've ever encountered.  I thought you may find it interesting as well.

I find epitaphs, memorials, headstones, monuments and gravesites a telling indication of the local culture at the time of burial.  I've seen some very fascinating graves in my travels but this one raises the most questions in my mind.

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Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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