Life after death in Swan Valley

Henry Meyer discusses the family plot with his son, Zane. Almost seven decades ago, Henry and Joan Meyer bought their 120 acres for $3,000. When Joan spoke to lawyers about making it a cemetery, they asked her why she didn’t just want to sell it, as the value is now likely over $1 million.

A fallen angel statue at a grave in Henry and Joan Meyer's natural cemetery.

A street sign marks the entrance to Henry and Joan's property.

Joan with Lily, her and Henry's newly adopted dog, at the entrance to their home and office.

Henry and Joan first met while sledding down a big hill near their houses. Framed is a photo of the couple in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, on the night they got engaged in 1950. The next year, they left to settle in the remote Swan Valley of Montana.

Joan and Henry Meyer remembering how all four of their kids used to fit in the cab of their 1957 Willys Jeep truck, the first new vehicle they ever purchased.

Henry Meyer sits in front of a bookcase he built, that will ultimately also be his coffin. Henry says, “I wanted to have something that I could use when I’m alive, and that I could use when I die.”

Henry Meyer walks past the skeleton of an elk in his natural cemetery. Though his family wasn't particularly outdoorsy, Henry said, “I had that crazy feeling ever since I was just a young boy that I had to go live in the woods.”

The cemetery allows only low lying headstones as grave markers.

Liz Gersten reviews paperwork while considering a plot for herself at Henry and Joan's cemetery. Though the Meyers don't actively promote their business, Gersten heard about them and drove from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to visit.

A stone buddha and metal moose mark graves. The first person buried at the cemetery has a gravestone engraved: “Everything must die, but love alone eludes mortality.”

Henry and Joan Meyer in their home that they built by hand as a young married couple.

The Meyer family plot at their natural cemetery in the Swan Valley of Montana. With each grave dug, the Meyers plant a new tree in the cemetery.