GREAT FALLS — June is Paris Gibson month, and on Sunday, a 30-day celebration of the Great Falls founder culminated with the ninth annual “Waking the Dead” tours.
Dozens of attendees gathered at Highland Cemetery Sunday afternoon to soak in the spiels of local actors playing the roles of prominent people in Electric City history. Three trailers, pulled by trucks provided by Hoven Equipment, bussed tour participants to the graves of historical figures for listening sessions on the stories and impacts from the actors who represented them.
A few recognizable names included Great Falls City Commissioner Bill Bronson, who portrayed the famed cowboy artist Charles M. Russell; and local historian and author Ken Robison, who played H.P. Rolfe, one of the community’s most influential land surveyors. Other figures represented during the event included the founder of Vaughn and a World War I hero.
The annual “Waking the Dead” tours are sponsored by the Paris Gibson Month Celebration Committee, in partnership with the Great Falls Parks and Recreation Department. Other participating organizations included the History Museum, Murmax Productions, Montana Granite Industries and the Great Falls Public Library.
Greg Kinder, who kicked off the tours playing the role of Paris Gibson, told MTN News he was honored to be asked to tell the story of someone so important to a community he has come to love so much.
“It’s such a great honor to be asked to do this,” Kinder said. Kinder was tapped for the role by Norma Ashby, the event’s tours chairman who saw him perform in the play “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” at Paris Gibson Square in 2017. Although the part of Gibson is normally reserved for Channing Hartelius, a prominent local attorney, Kinder was happy to fill in this year.
Kinder said his love of acting echoes Gibson’s affection for the city of Great Falls. Admittedly not much of a history buff, Kinder has learned a lot through his involvement with “Waking the Dead.”
“I tell them when [Gibson] was born: July 1, 1820,” Kinder explained. “[He] came up to see the falls because [he] read about them in the Lewis and Clark diaries. [He] took a look at the place and said, ‘I’m going to make my mark here. I’m going to build a city.'”
Participants in the tour were also gifted free booklets containing more information on the backstories of the historical figures portrayed throughout the event.
The proceeds from “Waking the Dead” have traditionally been used to further enrich preservation of local landmarks and history. According to a press release from the Great Falls Parks and Recreation Department, past funds were able to underwrite the commission of the Paris Gibson mural located at 114 3rd Street South. Money raised from previous years has also been used to paint the Gibson Park bandshell and plant trees at Highland Cemetery.
Monday marks the 189th birthday of Paris Gibson.
To learn more about how to get involved with the “Waking the Dead” tours, visit the Great Falls Parks and Recreation Department’s website here.
