From Stones
to Stories
The Lives Behind Bridal Veil Cemetery
Painting by Jerry Mishler
Origins
Built for the Living
Tucked into the forested cliffs of Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge, Bridal Veil was once a small but active lumber town, established in the late 1800s to serve the booming timber industry. Named after the nearby Bridal Veil Falls, the town grew around its sawmill, drawing workers and their families into a rugged, close-knit community. On a nearby hillside, the Bridal Veil Cemetery quietly took shape, offering a resting place for those who lived, labored, and laid down roots in the Gorge. Each gravestone here speaks to resilience, hardship, and connection—reminders of a place built with hands and held together by heart.
Forgotten Years
Nearly Lost to Time
When the mill shut down and families moved on, the town of Bridal Veil faded into memory—and the cemetery was left behind. Decades passed, and the burial ground fell into disrepair, swallowed by blackberry vines, moss, and silence. Headstones tilted and disappeared; names wore away. But in the mid-1980s, Geri and Rod Canzler, who lived on neighboring land, along with the Kaiser family and others, began clearing the overgrowth. With quiet dedication, they uncovered lost graves and sparked a grassroots effort to recover the site’s stories. What had nearly vanished was slowly revived—through care, curiosity, and the belief that even forgotten lives deserve to be remembered.
Restoration Efforts
Restoring Respect
In 2006 the Bridal Veil Historical Preservation Society was formed by Geri and Rod Canzler, and a group of dedicated volunteers. Together they tracked down the heirs to the founders of the Bridal Veil Lumbering Company and gained the deed to the cemetery. Over the years local residents have helped to restore and maintain the cemetery with tools, stories, and heart. In a short video interview, meet some of those who recently helped to preserve the past. Their efforts build on the years of hard work done by others, and help to continue to turn silence into storytelling—giving dignity back to the forgotten. The work is ongoing, but each act of care is a tribute, reminding us that remembrance is a living thing.
Cemetery
Stories
Dr. William Horton - Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1814. William Horton immigrated to Ohio as a child, where his family aided the Underground Railroad. By 1850, he was a practicing doctor. He continued his medical work into his sixties, eventually moving to Cape Horn, Washington. William died in 1899 at age 84 and was buried in the Bridal Veil Cemetery, likely near family.
Luscher Children - In one week during a diphtheria outbreak in December 1894, four Luscher siblings—August, Frede, Julie, and Emma—died in Bridal Veil. Their sister Marie and father survived, while their mother and uncles were unharmed. The home was fumigated and belongings burned. The family later welcomed three more children, continuing their legacy in the community.
Olive Hall Phillips - Born in Pennsylvania in 1842. Olive and her family crossed the entire U.S. and eventually settled in Bridal Veil. In her lifetime she experienced her husband going off to fight in the Civil War as a Union soldier, the birth of nine children and the death of two, and living the hard working life of a pioneer wife and mother.
Willie Proctor - Born in Michigan in 1862, Willie Proctor lost three siblings to typhoid fever before age twenty. By 1900, he was working as a fireman in Bridal Veil’s lumber camp. In 1901, he was fatally injured by a falling tree and died soon after. A husband and father of two, he was 39. He is buried in Bridal Veil Cemetery and was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Henry Swain - Born in Bridal Veil in 1888, Henry lived only two weeks before passing away. Though no death record exists, he may have been one of the first burials in the Bridal Veil Cemetery. His family had moved to the area for work in the paper mill industry, a central part of the community at the time.