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.