During a public tour at Missoula City Cemetery, Susan Wolf, the cemetery’s administrative assistant, led visitors through biographical sketches of vaudeville-era figures tied to the Gem Theater and other Missoula businesses and institutions. Wolf said the tour material drew on newspaper research and correspondence with author Jennifer Toole, whose historical-fiction book Reaching for Reveries incorporates many of the people discussed.

The presentation focused on people who worked in or around the Gem Theater and Missoula’s late-19th and early-20th-century entertainment scene. Wolf described John "Spider" Stett as a bartender and retired boxer born in Ireland in September 1867 who drew frequent newspaper coverage for fights; she said he spent 90 days in jail in 1902 after trying to smuggle saws to other detained men and that a 1901 second-degree assault bond of $300 would equal about $11,401.69 today. Wolf also described Franklin J. Pierce as the Gem Theater owner who sought to make vaudeville more "family friendly" while navigating changing local laws about alcohol and entertainment.

Wolf pointed out that some of the performers and managers who populated Missoula’s entertainment scene later faced legal, health and financial setbacks. She described William Davenport, a former army lieutenant who became a vaudeville manager and Gem Theater manager; Davenport suffered a stroke and died in 1904 after a benefit fundraiser for his medical costs, Wolf said. She also summarized Charles Humphrey Hall’s career as a lawyer and county attorney who prosecuted some cases tied to theater owners, and noted Harry W. Thompson’s path from popular entertainer and female impersonator to sheriff charged with enforcing gambling and alcohol laws.

Wolf highlighted local business figures buried at the cemetery as well: Dr. William P. Mills, a physician who practiced in Missoula and died in 1920; George Nink, a saloon and cigar-shop owner who was the first president of the Missoula Band; and William Yarek, proprietor of the Garden City Bottling Company. She noted that many of these individuals were active in fraternal organizations such as the Fraternal Order of Eagles, which Wolf said sometimes arranged funerals and memorials.

The tour also addressed site history and maintenance. Wolf said the cemetery dates to 1884 and that the Missoula Valley Improvement Company sold it to the city for $1 in 1901; she explained the cemetery’s practice regarding temporary markers and said, "We have absolutely no unmarked graves out here," noting crews sometimes replace or reset temporary concrete markers that were stamped with names and years. Wolf identified the Gem Theater’s site as Front Street and said the theater was torn down in 1955 to make way for a hotel and later a parking structure.

Wolf said Jennifer Toole contacted the cemetery about an individual after researching newspapers.com; Toole told Wolf she writes historical fiction and planned to use several of these local figures in her second book. Wolf encouraged attendees to look for Toole’s Reaching for Reveries at bookstores or through the author’s website, which she provided in the tour packet.

An audience member interjected that elements of the stories "could be partially true," and Wolf acknowledged that historical fiction blends fact and narrative while noting that at least 11 of the stories on the tour were drawn from archival material the cemetery staff had not widely shared.

The tour combined on-road stops with brief opportunities to view headstones; Wolf said the route was intended to keep visitors moving and to accommodate people with mobility concerns. She distributed copies of select newspaper clippings and photographs she said she found while researching the individuals mentioned. The tour closed with Wolf inviting attendees to consult the provided materials and to contact the cemetery for further information about specific graves or family histories.