Events mark 149 years at Whitestone Hill Battlefield

The State Historical Society of North Dakota will present the Larson Brothers concert at Whitestone Hill Battle Field at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 26.

During the musical intermission, Walt Bailey, SHSND retired historian, will speak on the reasons for the Whitestone Hill conflict and how it started in Minneapolis during the treaties and uprisings of 1862.

Then on Wednesday, Aug. 29, youngsters will be invited to experience life as it might have been 149 years ago when Whitestone Hill became a battlefield for Gen. Alfred Sully and his army troops (who fought a large body of mixed band Sioux on Sept. 3 and 5, 1863.)

The victory gave the army control of the Northern Plains east of the Missouri River.

This year is the 12th annual education day that brings students and families to experience events sponsored by SHSND and allows fourth- through upper-grade students an opportunity for firsthand involvement.

Events include musical performances, a tipi raising (visitors may go inside and learn how they are made), reenactments, animal skin tanning, pemmican making, Native American winter count explanation, a demonstration of soldiers food rations, narrative documentary art exercises and troop exercises.

Students will learn from experiencing these events more about life as it was during that time period and its effects on the people involved and those who came afterward.

Teachers will learn about the SHSND’s suitcase exhibits for North Dakota that can be distributed to teachers for use in classrooms.

The museum store will be the subject for students to draw. They will take those drawing to their class and be able to explain how it was burned a few years ago and now is almost finished being rebuilt and usable.

The day starts at 9 a.m. and has a self-provided lunch break noon to 1 p.m. After that, the rotation continues so all the groups and interested parties take a turn with each person or group doing a demonstration.

It ends at 3 p.m. when the buses return to take the students back to their respective schools.

The SHSND will have relevant items significant to Whitestone for sale. Items are age-appropriate for fourth graders up.

Whitestone Hill Battlefield State Historic Site, managed and maintained by the SHSND, is where the Sixth Iowa and Second Nebraska Volunteer Cavalry troops under Brigadier Gen. Alfred Sully battled with Dakota (Sioux) warriors.

The attack on the Two Bears Dakota village was the last battle of the 1863 campaign, and the last major battle between American Indians and soldiers east of the Missouri River.

During the fighting, 22 soldiers and between 100 and 300 Sioux were killed and another 150 captured. The Whitestone Hill Battlefield commemorates the American Indian and white participants in the confrontation.

The site can be reached by going to Kulm and traveling 12 miles south on N.D. Highway 56, then east on a gravel road 4 miles, then north nearly 2 miles to the site. In addition to the monument and museum store, there are picnic areas, primitive restrooms and recreational facilities. It is opened for visitors until Sept. 15.

If anyone has an item for this column, please send to Sharon Cox, P.O. Box 1559, Jamestown, ND 58402-1559.

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