Memorial Day program set at Whitestone Hill

A program commemorating Memorial Day will take place at the Whitestone Hill Battlefield State Historic Site near Kulm, N.D., on Monday.

The memorial service program will begin at 3 p.m., conducted by members of the Kulm and Forbes American Legion posts.

Whitestone Hill Battlefield State Historic Site, managed and maintained by the State Historical Society of North Dakota, is where the Sixth Iowa and Second Nebraska Volunteer Cavalry troops under Brigadier General Alfred Sully battled with Dakota (Sioux) warriors on Sept. 3, 1863. The attack on the Two Bears Dakota (Sioux) village at Whitestone Hill was the last battle of the 1863 campaign, and the last major battle between soldiers and American Indians east of the Missouri River. Twenty-two soldiers and more than 100 Indian people were killed and another 300 captured. The Army’s victory confirmed U.S. control of the Northern Plains east of the Missouri River. The site commemorates the Indian and white participants in the confrontation with monuments honoring both sides.

The Whitestone Hill Battlefield State Historic Site can be reached by traveling from Kulm south 12 miles on North Dakota State Highway 56, then east four miles on a gravel road, then north nearly two miles to the site. The site features a small museum, two monuments, an adjacent park and picnic and recreational facilities. The site is open through Sept.15, Thursdays through Mondays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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