WEST RESERVE
After the fun of Reinthal cemetery (it’s hidden and beautiful), Joe led me another that was pretty nearby. It maybe is even on the other side of the canola field, I’m not sure if this is the same canola or what. I guess it was everywhere this past July when I was exploring yantzied by myself. Except I wasn’t really by myself. I was staying with family and one thing led to another and I was meeting all kinds of people and now I was chasing Joe down gravel roads and wandering cemeteries together.
I would not have remembered this cemetery’s name (because I took very bad notes) except it actually had a sign posted, which I took a picture of, and I’m so thankful.
So, like Reinthal, the Rempel-Harms Historical Atlas of the West Reserve doesn’t have much to say about Heuboden either. There is some speculation as to who lived there and where exactly its village street was, but I’ll tell you one thing — its cemetery was definitely here. Though where exactly “here” is, I’m not sure. Readers are telling me Reinthal is south of Plum Coulee, not near Altona — is it bad that it’s all the same in my mind? That’s how you can tell I need to spend more time in the area, so the difference will be more obvious — anyway, this must be south of Plum Coulee as well, because it’s very close to Reinthal!
You know, because there are so many remaining villages that continue to exist (and even thrive) in the West Reserve, I have often been jealous, as only a handful survived here on the East Reserve, shifting and growing until they no longer resemble a village at all. But I’ve felt that on the West Reserve, they all continued to thrive. Explorations like this have taught me that that’s certainly not the case. All that’s left here is the Heuboden cemetery.
Next, I had asked Joe if she might know where Neuhoffnung was located… as I have seen some records suggest that my paternal grandmother was born there. For the longest time I thought it was Neuhoffnung on the East Reserve… but then realized it must be the West. So now I wanted to see if anything remained.
Yeah, Joe knew.
“Follow me!”