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The Settlement of Beiseker and The Calgary Colonization Company
The Calgary Colonization Company was founded in 1905 by Thomas Beiseker, Mr. Davidson, and Mr. Martin, businessmen from North Dakota. This colonization company purchased extensive land from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company in central and southern Alberta, with their advertisements claiming hundreds of thousands of acres of land available. This included the Rosebud Tract, which was approximately 300,000 acres of land north of Strathmore, which would become the Beiseker area [1]. The goal of the Calgary Colonization Company was to bring settlers into the wheat-growing regions of Canada and selling the lands for farming. The Rosebud Tract area was partially sold to German Catholics who were living in North Dakota around 1907 during which time four colonization farms were built in the tract. The present-day townsite of Beiseker was founded in 1910 on a piece of land within the Rosebud Tract that Thomas Beiseker donated for the purposes of building a town centre, who is the namesake for the village. The Calgary Colonization Company continuously sold their land to new settlers in the Beiseker area until the company was eventually absorbed into the Canadian Pacific Railway [1].
The Village of Beiseker
Beiseker was officially founded by the Calgary Colonization Company in 1908. The goal of the Calgary Colonization Company was to promote settlement in regions with grain-growing potential. A colonization farm was built and German immigrants living in the United States were brought north to settle the area and take charge of the settlement farm [2]. Eight families were brought to the colonization farm: three Hagel families and the Schleppe, Silbernagel, Denis, and Richter families [1]. The village was named Beiseker, after Thomas Beiseker, the vice-president of the Calgary Colonization Company. By 1910, the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed, which caused the growth of Beiseker village. A general store was opened as well as a school and dance hall. The village received telephone lines in 1912 and electricity in 1928. Beiseker continued to grow and when Highways 9, 72, and 806 were constructed near the village, Beiseker became and continues to be a local service and trade centre for the surrounding rural communities, Calgary, and Drumheller [2].
Beiseker Community Cemetery
The Beiseker Cemetery is one of three cemeteries in and around Beiseker Village. The other cemeteries, St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery and the Beiseker Zion United Church Cemetery, are active, religious-affiliated cemeteries that continue to be active today [3, 4]. The Zion United Church Cemetery was opened in its current location in 1918 by German Protestants who settled in Russia and the United States prior to moving into the Beiseker Area [4]. St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery is associated with the parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. This cemetery first opened in 1903 and remains in active use despite the church moving locations in the 1950s. [3]
The Beiseker Cemetery was originally founded in 1926 after the Schultz family sold land to the village in 1926. The cemetery operated for approximately 30 years, with burials occurring between 1926 and 1958, as well as several later dis-interments. Beiseker cemetery fell out of disuse after this point, with limited records regarding the number of individuals buried at the site [5, 6, 7]. In a 1983 land title search, it was discovered that Beiseker was not the owner of the land that contained the cemetery but occupied private land. The landowner transferred the plot that included the cemetery to the village. Beiseker applied for the reopening of the Beiseker Cemetery in the 2000, after which more burials occurred in 2011 and 2024. The Beiseker Cemetery Society was founded at this time and worked to care for the site and collect information related to it. The society was disbanded in 2005. The cemetery is currently cared for by the Beiseker Station Museum, which has completed work to revive the cemetery. Irises have been planted in the cemetery and regular lawn maintenance has been done since 2018 [5]. The Village hopes to relocate any unknown burial locations so the community can continue using the cemetery.
Notes
[1] Beiseker Historical Society. 1977. Beiseker’s Golden Heritage. Friesen Printers, Calgary. Available at: https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/asset-management/2R3408TYIKY6?FR_=1&W=958&H=910
[2] Village of Beiseker. 2022. Beiseker History. Available at: https://beiseker.com/beiseker-history/
[3] Wasylenko, Judy. 1980. St. Mary’s Church Cemetery. Beiseker, Alberta. SW 13-28-26 W4. In Alberta Genealogical Society Alberta Cemetery Recordings (A – B). Volume 1. Alberta Genealogical Society, Edmonton. Pp. 294-327. Available at: https://archive.org/details/abcemeteriesvol01albe/page/n293/mode/2up
[4] Wasylenko, Judy. 1980. Zion United Church Cemetery, Beiseker. SE 16-028-25 W4. In Alberta Genealogical Society Alberta Cemetery Recordings (A – B). Volume 1. Alberta Genealogical Society, Edmonton. Pp. 328-343. Available at: https://archive.org/details/abcemeteriesvol01albe/page/n327/mode/2up
[5] Communication with Beiseker Station Museum, 2025.
[6] Secetary-Treasurer (name unknown). 1955, January 10. Letter to Gooder Bros. Funeral Home. Beiseker Station Museum Collection, Beiseker, Alberta.
[7] Province of Alberta. 1927. Permit to Disinter a Dead Body, Department of Public Health – Vital Statisticas Branch. Beiseker Station Museum Collection, Beiseker, Alberta.
