The Enigma Of Wounded Knee

Abstract

Wounded Knee Battlefield lies near the center of the SW 1/4 of Sec. 36, T37N, R 43 W, of the 6th Principal Meridian. The precise location of the battle is clearly defined on two published maps sketched by eyewitnesses. One, compiled by Lt. T. Q. Donaldson, 7th U. S. Cavalry appears on Plate XCVII, 14th Annual Report, Bu reau of American Ethnology 1892-93. The other by Lt. S. A. Clorian, Acting Engi neer Officer, Division of the Missouri, appears opposite page 154, Vol. 1 of the Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1891. (Figures 1,2). The bend in Wounded Knee Creek, the dry ravine, the hill, and other topographic features depicted are unmistakably identical with the site con tained within the present Wounded Knee community. The mass grave, dug follow ing the battle, is prominently evident, and local residents report having found numerous battlefield relics in years past. The low flat where soldiers and Indians were camped, and where the initial heavy action took place, bears evidence of inten sive grazing but is not marred by any in trusive structures. The creek follows the same meanders it did 60 years ago, and the fatal ravine winds away into a barren hillside with nothing to impair a visual re construction of the pursuit except one or two barbed wire fences. The hill where the four Hotchkiss guns were deployed and where most of the Indian victims were hastily buried en masse still dominates the scene. A picturesque Catholic Mission has since been erected on this hill, but it does not seem to violate the historic scene. Rather, it seems to serve as a fitting monu ment to spiritual values which still survive the horrors of Indian warfare. Behind the church is a small cemetery which is used today for the interment of parishioners. In its center is the mass grave approximately 80 feet long and out lined by a concrete strip. At the end is a white wooden cross 12 feet high. Alongside the trench is a nine foot, grey granite monument on a concrete base, erected June 17, 1930. The south side contains the following inscription: