Mountview Cemetery, Billings, Montana
At its height in 1900, the Chinese community of Billings numbered close to 100. Working as merchants, laundry workers, gardeners, and in restaurants, the Chinese residents of Billings lived near 26th Street South and Minnesota Avenue, known as “China Alley.” Mountview Cemetery in Billings features nineteen headstones for Chinese residents of the region. Home villages in southern China for twelve of these individuals were identified and are linked in the map at the bottom of this page.
Mountview Cemetery in Billings not only served the Chinese community of that city, but served as a central collection point for remains from throughout the region. Remains of Chinese individuals who had died were transported from across eastern Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, and some parts of Nebraska to Billings for interment. After five to ten years, these remains would be exhumed, ritually cleaned, and returned to southern China for reburial in the ancestral villages of each individual where they could be cared for and honored by descendants.
This headstone commemorates Mar Fook Man, who came to Montana in 1894 and worked as a cook in Billings. He died in 1937 and was buried in Mountview Cemetery in Billings. Click here for a detailed examination of the translation and mapping process used to tell more about the history of Mar Fook Man and his countrymen who came to Montana.
The headstones pictured below are from the Mountview Cemetery in Billings, Montana. Each of these has been translated and the home village in southern China located. For details on each location in Billings, see the map linked here. For the locations of the home villages in southern China, click here (purple markers indicate home villages for members of the Chinese community of Billings).
