The Great Victory at Battle of Apple Creek, 150 Years Later

Dakota Wind

A view from the top of Pictured Bluff looking northwesterly towards Sibley Park, which is where Camp Slaughter once stood.

The Great Victory at Battle of Apple Creek, 150 Years Later

Dakota Wind

August 16, 2013

TheMníšoše, Missouri River, moves determinedly along the ancient valley it has carved over thousands of years. The river flows in the very heart of the Great Plains, in fact, aside from the wind it’s a defining feature of the prairie steppe. ItsLakȟótaname means “The Water A-stir” in reference to its muddy stirred up appearance in historic times. Commercial traffic on the river in the nineteenth century came to call it “The Big Muddy.”

Tȟaspáŋla Wakpála, Apple Creek, meanders along its own course from a field north and east of present-day Bismarck, North Dakota. The Menoken Indian Village rests along the quiet creek, a silent witness to trade in what archaeologists call the Late Woodlands period. The creek’s name refers to the tree that bears the tiny edible thorn apple.

Where theTȟaspáŋla Wakpálaconverges withMníšošeisMayá Itówapi, Pictured Bluff. There, along the bluff are caves where the sediment is layered in colors. A testament to the changing climate throughout the ages of the world to the geologist, but to theLakȟóta, it was a place to gather natural yellow and red pigments to create paint.

There was a conflict between thePȟadáni(Arikara) and theIháŋktȟuŋwaŋna(Yanktonai) in the 1830s. According to the John K. Bear winter count (a mnemonic pictographic device) the year is recorded asČhaŋnóna na Pȟadáni ob thi apá kičhízapi, The Wood-Hitters (a band of theIháŋktȟuŋwaŋna) fought with the Arikara.

TheWaŋkíya Ťho, Blue Thunder, winter count correlates this event at a Dakota winter camp located belowČhaŋté Wakpá, Heart River. According to Blue Thunder, the assailants are variously identified as Arikara, Mandan, or Assiniboine. The Mandan Indians have the Foolish Woman winter count, and they record that they destroyed fifty lodges. TheTȟatȟaŋka Ska, White Bull, winter count has that winter asWičhíyela waníyetu wičhákasotapi, the Yanktonai were almost wiped out that winter.

The John K. Bear winter count also mentions the Dakota Conflict in its 1863 entry:Isáŋyatí wašíčuŋ ob okȟíčize, the Santee warred with the whites. The Minnesota Dakota conflict is also reflected in the Red Horse Owner, Roan Bear, and Wind winter counts.

The fight between the two tribes paled in comparison when in 1863, General Sibley and his command of about four thousand soldiers engaged theDakȟótaandLakȟótapeople in a running battle lasting two weeks, from Big Mound (near present-day Tappen, North Dakota) to Pictured Bluff.

InTȟatȟáŋka Íyotake’s,Sitting Bull’s, own pictographic account, he placed himself at Big Mound where he rode into Sibley’s camp, stole a mule, and counted coup. It is almost entirely certain that if this great leader was at the beginning of the running battle, he was there to the end at Pictured Bluff.

The running battle began as a masterful retreat on July 24, 1863, across hilly terrain in a sinuous line back and forth across streams. This constant crossing, in effect, caused Sibley to lag behind enough for theDakȟótaandLakȟótato gain enough lead time that the women, children, and elders could navigate their crossingwaŋna hiyóȟpayATȟaspáŋla Wakpála hená Mníšoše, where the Apple Creek converges with the Missouri River.

That critical crossing came on July 29, 1863. Theoyáte, people, abandoned theirthiíkčeka, lodges, on the broad flood plain of theMníšoše. A thousand lodges encircled two little lakes, sloughs in later years. They crossed theMníšošein as many as five places below Pictured Bluff. The warriors rallied together, perhaps under the leadership ofTȟatȟáŋka ÍyotakeorPhizí(Gall), and took the high ground a-top Pictured Bluff.

This was taken from a sandbar south of Sibley Park looking southeast towards Pictured Bluff. This is where some of the Dakota and Lakota people crossed. (Dakota Wind)

The women, children, and elders who made a successful crossing signaled the warriors with flashes of sunlight using trade mirrors. The warriors in turn, signaled back to their loved ones then they turned their attention to Sibley’s command. There is no exact number of warriors, but if there were a thousand lodges, then there was at least one able-bodied man or warrior per lodge. Using this projection, the warriors were outnumbered four-to-one.

Sibley and his men arrived on the scene, July 29, 1863, to witness flashes of light in communiqué to those in safety across the river. The general struck camp and named it “Camp Slaughter” after a doctor in his command. Over the course of the next few days, Sibley could not take the hill and some of his men were ambushed in the middle of the night. The morale of his soldiers suffered and on July 31, withdrew his men from the field when the enemy seemingly disappeared.

The Apple Creek Conflict is the only fight in the Punitive Campaigns of 1863 and 1864 in which theDakȟótaandLakȟótachose the battlefield, met their aggressor, and held them off until they withdrew. This clear victory became entirely overshadowed by the tragedies ofIŋyáŋsaŋ(Whitestone Hill) andTȟáȟča Wakútepi(Killdeer), and the victory ofPȟežísluta, the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.

Susan Kelly Power, an esteemeduŋčí(grandmother) of theIháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakȟóta, enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and great-granddaughter of Chief Two Bear, has the oral tradition that places three warriors there at the Apple Creek Conflict: Callous Leg, Little Soldier, and Has Tricks. There must certainly be more warriors and oral traditions amongst theIŋyáŋ Wosláta Oyáŋke, the community of Standing Rock, and others.

This picture was taken from Sibley Park looking southeast at Pictured Bluff. The University of Mary can be seen in the background. (Dakota Wind)

Today, a park named for General Sibley rests virtually where his Camp Slaughter once stood, where some of theDakȟótaandLakȟótamade their crossing. Bismarck has turned a battlefield into a place of recreation. There is no signage explaining the name of the park, nor of the conflict.

The landscape has been appropriated and development has erased the battlefield;DakȟótaandLakȟótaoral tradition recalls that the soldiers chased the people into the river.

On July 29, 2013, 150 years after Sibley’s command withdrew entirely from the Apple Creek Conflict, the anniversary passed in silence.

Dakota Wind is a theologian by education and a public historian by trade. He has been by turns a National Park Service ranger, a state park ranger, and a college instructor. Wind maintains the history blogThe First Scout.

Read more athttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/08/16/overshadowed-apple-creek-conflict-150-years-later-150881

A ‘mountain’ of a debate

A ‘mountain’ of a debate

Posted on 18 January 2013 by Bryce Martin

A two-mile stretch of North Dakota land will mean the difference between oil drilling and disrupting the slopes of the Killdeer Mountains for one global oil company.

Hess Corp., a Texas-based oil corporation, is making plans to drill on top of Killdeer Mountains. They have proposed drilling four additional wells on the Killdeer Mountains. They already have received permits and are in the process of now applying for four more to drill a total of eight wells.

By BRYCE MARTIN

Herald Editor

Posted Jan. 18, 2013

A two-mile stretch of North Dakota land will mean the difference between oil drilling and disrupting the slopes of the Killdeer Mountains for one global oil company.

Hess Corp., a Texas-based oil corporation, already maintains several oil well sites within Dunn County and has proposed drilling four additional wells on the Killdeer Mountains. They already have received permits and are in the process of now applying for four more to drill a total of eight wells.

A citizen action group known as the Killdeer Mountain Alliance (KMA), formed to protect the mountains from industrial development, urged both Hess and the state of North Dakota to relocate the drill site to two miles south of the mountain.

The decision now rests in the hands of the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC).

Rob and Mary Sand are two local landowners and members of the KMA, expressing their strong concern over possible placement of Hess’s wells.

“This isn’t near (the mountains), this is on the mountains,” Rob Sand said.

Hess’s plans call for the wells to be placed along the south side of the Killdeer Mountains, within a public section of the slope that is designated as a school section. Two sections of every township in North Dakota are considered state school land and earmarked for funding public education. Monies from minerals discovered would be awarded to the state for education.

If permitted to begin drilling, Hess’s construction would span nearly three acres of land, with all topsoil being removed, the area leveled and an infrastructure consisting of access roads to be constructed.

Continental Resources Inc., an Oklahoma-based company, has leases directly east of where Hess maintains several leases. They proposed drilling on the mountains in the past, but moved farther away off the mountains when urged by residents.

“If (Hess) were to drill where they propose, it puts them right on top of archeology,” Rob said. “It’s a hunting area, it’s a very scenic area and it’s public land.”

Archeologists claimed there are findings of historical and cultural significance around the proposed dig site that they want to further explore and evaluate. The area is also one part of the mountain that has public access.

“Almost anywhere in the Killdeer Mountains, if you come to a gopher hole and you kick the soil, you’re going to come across some sort of artifact,” Mary Sand said. “It is one of the richest archeological sites. Once they start messing with the surface, that is lost.”

As landowners and others come forward to voice opposition to Hess’s proposed dig, the matter heads to the NDIC for approval.

“This is one place where the public can speak up,” Rob said. “When it’s on private land, there’s not a whole lot we can say.”

On state lands in North Dakota, oil companies need only the approval of the Oil and Gas Division of the NDIC for site location. Unlike decisions related to federal lands, the NDIC is not obligated to protect archaeological and historical artifacts if such protection impedes financial gain for the state.

“In some cases, however, state officials have worked with industry to relocate wells on lands where there are concerns about wildlife habitat or archaeological artifacts,” Rob said. “We hope that will be the case here.”

The NDIC is scheduled to meet Jan. 24 at the North Dakota State Capital building to make a decision regarding Hess’s permits to drill at that location. The final decision ultimately is up to the state.

“They really need to be more considerate of what the public interest is,” Rob said.

Consensus among landowners in the area remains clear – drilling on the mountains is unacceptable. A location the KMA suggested for Hess to relocate is two miles south, combining the unit they’re presently applying for and the unit directly below them, which is also under their ownership.

“It’s not going to change the financial gain – they’re still able to access those minerals,” he said. “We’re just trying to change the location. Apparently it’s easier to drill two miles than it is four miles.”

A spokesperson for Hess acknowledged the situation in the Killdeer Mountains and offered a written statement to the Herald.

“We seek to minimize our impact on the environment in all aspects of our operations in North Dakota,” a company spokesperson said. “We are aware of the concerns and have made every attempt to address the issues raised with regard to our drilling program. We design every well taking into the specific environmental considerations for that location. In this case, we have also worked closely with the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, who is the surface owner and a major mineral owner under the well in question.

“Hess Corp. is committed to meeting the highest standards of corporate citizenship by … safeguarding the environment and making a positive impact on the communities in which we do business.”

Regardless of the situation, Rob said their intention is not to make the oil companies the “bad guy.”

“They’re just trying to follow their standard practices, and since we know it’s possible to drill from a farther distance, we’re asking that the state change the permit and the location,” he said.

“It’s both the state and Hess that we’re appealing to.”

The Sands plan to attend the upcoming open meeting in Bismarck and eagerly await a decision over their beloved mountains.

“It is an area that we think is a treasure – the whole mountain is, but that particular area is public land and that’s why we’re feeling like we should be able to say something.”
http://www.dunncountyextra.com/661/