A Brief Tour of Rosebud Battlefield State Park: Part I

To set the stage for understanding the battlefield as it was, it is important to know the area as it was and is today. This first installment of the tour begins with the original inhabitants of the area.

Currently, Montana State Parks manages just slightly over 3000 acres of the core battlefield, but the June 17, 1876 engagement is not the only significant part of this landscape.

For over an estimated 7,000 years, humans lived on this landscape and left indelible marks upon the landscape. The rich abundance of plant, water and animal resources near Rosebud Creek drew Native American groups for several millenia. A traditional part of the Crow and Northern Cheyenne territories, the area comprised within the State Park boundary contains significant remnants of prehistoric occupations. The central fixture of the prehistoric use of the State Park is a 200' long sandstone cliff that Native American groups used as a buffalo jump (similar to that at First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park and Madison Buffalo Jump State Park).  Native American groups would divert herds of buffalo from the east near Rosebud Creek's north-flowing path, up and westward over a natural terrace and over the edge of the jump. Dr. George Frison, archaeologist, of the University of Wyoming conducted limited test excavations underneath Rosebud Battlefield's State Park in the 1970s, and the jump is known as the Kobold Buffalo Jump.

A view of the Kobold Buffalo Jump, facing to the northeast. Photo by Nate Boyless.

2011 Students & Staff Checking out the Kobold Buffalo Jump. Photo by Nate Boyless.



Prehistoric peoples carved elaborate art into the rock face of the buffalo jump. This type of rock art is called petroglyphs, as it is inscribed into the rock, versus pictographs which is made with pigment (usually red ochre). The rock art on the Kobold Buffalo Jump are comprised of a relatively common motif on the Great Plains, shield-bearing warriors. These images usually show a human-esque form holding a round or oval shaped shield with only the head and arms showing (and sometimes legs). Before introduction of the horse to the Great Plains, most of the warfare was completed with shields, lances (spears), and war clubs, which are all depicted in this type of rock art. The shields usually contain some type of artistic pattern that likely represents a religious or clan symbol. Rock art is a popular research are in the region and more is yet to be learned.

  

A Shield-Bearing Warrior on the Kobold Buffalo Jump.



Besides the buffalo jump, Rosebud Battlefield State Park contains nearly 100 other areas of prehistoric occupations including small campsites, tipi rings, rock cairns, sweat lodges, and eagle-catching sites. During the 1980s, archaeologists conducted a detailed survey of the State Park, locating most of these significant sites. All of these sites and the information within them, are preserved for future generations of Montanans due to the protection of Cultural Resources (archaeological materials of any kind from projectile points to historic tin cans) by Montana's Antiquities Act.

It is clear that Native Americans occupied this region for millenia, and many tribes continue to have strong spiritual and cultural ties to this landscape. Thus, the Rosebud Battlefield State Park transcends the importance of June 17, 1876, though this event adds to the significance and sacred aspects of this beautiful landscape.

Why Do Archaeology at the Rosebud?

Why conduct archaeology of the Rosebud Battlefield is a an easy question to answer. Archaeology provides a unique and personal glimpse into the affairs of the battle derived directly from the artifacts themselves. After the battle many of the participants recounted perspectives on the battle, many of which provide vague locations of important events, or in some cases even give contradictory accounts. Artifacts do not forget, lie, or mis-remember, they are the direct result of human activity.

Since the 1876 battle, many visitors and scholars identified the key areas of the engagement from Crooks' Hill to Mills' First Charge. Slim Kobold erected concrete or steel monuments at key features of the battle throughout the 1920s-1950s, forever immortalizing these events and providing the baseline for these areas. These monuments, however, focus on landscape areas not individuals.

Crook's Hill Monument Erected by Slim Kobold. Photo by S. Propp.

Cartridge cases, bullets, and other battle-related artifacts provide direct information on the location of shooters (cartridge cases) and their intended targets (where the bullets landed). While we know the location of Crook's Hill or Packer's Rocks, what is lacking from that discussion is where individual soldiers, warriors, or civilians were stationed during the critical hours of the battle.  Archaeology is the only means of recovering these important facts about the battle, and through the use of highly accurate Global Positioning Systems, we can track the location of artifacts within only a few feet.

Archaeologist Jono Mogstad sporting the GPS Antenna at the Rosebud in 2011.

As seen at the Little Bighorn Battlefield through the work of Doug Scott and Richard Fox and their cadre of volunteers and staff, archaeology has shed new light on the battle and its participants. What has been already accomplished at the Rosebud Battlefield State Park in 2011 and 2012 is changing our views of the battle.

An Introduction to the Rosebud Battlefield Archaeology Project

On June 17, 1876, General George Crook and over 1300 U.S. Army soldiers, Native American scouts, and civilians engaged a combined Lakota and Cheyenne force of possibly 2000-2500 along the banks, ridges, and bluffs surrounding Rosebud Creek. The events that transpired on that day shaped the events that followed on June 25, 1876 along the Little Bighorn, but also had significant repercussions for the United States and the Native American tribes involved. While the battle is known to most Americans as the Rosebud Battle, or Crook's Fight on the Rosebud, Native peoples refer to the area and events on that day as "Where the Girl Saved Her Brother". We'll cover that history more in later posts!

A view of the Rosebud Battlefield State Park in June 2011, Crooks' Hill is in the distant right.

Elmer E. "Slim" Kobold, who homesteaded and ranched most of the original battlefield since the 1910s, transferred much of the lands involved in the June 17 engagement to the State of Montana, where it was designated as a Montana State Park in 1978. Montana State Parks was able to list the Rosebud Battlefield as a National Historic Landmark in 2008.

Since 2010, Montana State Parks (MSP) and the University of Montana's (UM) Department of Anthropology have partnered to begin the first professional archaeological investigation of the battlefield. Students and staff from the UM and MSP, have now accomplished two successful field seasons at the Rosebud Battlefield State Park, and have begun to also build strong ties with the private landowners that surround the park and protect other significant battle-related features.

 

The Rosebud 2011 crew, that helped make this project possible.



This blog is dedicated to sharing the history, archaeology, environment, and scholarship of the Rosebud Battlefield, or Where the Girl Saved Her Brother, with the interested public and professionals. We will be providing posts detailing the history of the battlefield, the archaeological investigations and findings, the people involved (both in research and history) and also the outgrowth of scholarly research through master's students and educators. The Rosebud Battlefield State Park is a wonderful and serene place, much different the hectic and bloody events of 148 years ago. Step back into 1876 with a visit to the Rosebud Battlefield.

Thanks for reading!

Chris