Battlefield archeology: volunteers needed

A dedicated cadre of foot soldiers wielding metal detectors, pin flags and shovels - that's what Kevin O'Dell wants with him on the battlefield.

The archaeologist is enlisting an army to march onto the Fetterman Battlefield this May, not to fight a battle but to uncover the story of one. . .

In the spring of 2002, O'Dell and about 40 volunteers covered 400 acres in the first phase of the project, gathering 157 artifacts including bullets, cartridges and arrowheads.

Now volunteers are needed to walk 200 additional acres of land off Interstate 90 about 15 miles south of Sheridan to dig up items that will help explain the events of Dec. 21, 1866, a day regarded as the "worst military defeat suffered by the United States frontier army" and one of the most successful American Indian victories.

In a coordinated maneuver against their common enemy, 300 Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors ambushed 79 soldiers and two armed civilians on the Bozeman Trail north of Fort Phil Kearny. The soldiers were on their way to relieve a military wagon train filled with firewood, but none of the 81 men lived to reach their destination.

No Army survivors and only sketchy accounts translated decades after the battle have left many questions. How did the Native Americans achieve such a victory? Where was the initial clash? How were the infantry, cavalry and warriors positioned?

Read more at the Billings Gazette, which also has contact information for interested volunteer metal-detectorists. Apparently this is yet another instance where an historical battlefield lies largely on unprotected private land.

Posted by David on March 25, 2004 3:51 PM