The Nels Bruseth Memorial Garden was dedicated to Nels after his passing in 1957.  Nels and his wife Beate shared a love of gardening at their city home in Darrington, their gardens spanned not only their own property boundaries but reached all the way across Emens Avenue to the east onto Forest Service land.

This legendary man was a historian, artist, dancer, skier and so much more!  He loved history and worked hard to preserve local heritage.  He was a close friend of the Stillaguamish and Sauk-Suiattle Tribes and held them in the highest admiration.  One of his accomplishments was to gather and preserve the various types of dugout canoes so future generations could see these amazingly engineered outmoded works of art.

At the Nels Bruseth Memorial Garden, you will find remnants of the original gardens.  A rustic log structure stands there housing a collection of various canoes. An informational kiosk erected by the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe, provides important historic reminders of these canoes, which once navigated the swift waters of all the local rivers.