Washita Battlefield National Historic Site Marks 30 Years With a November 12 Commemoration in Oklahoma
Washita Battlefield National Historic Site, near the town of Cheyenne in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, marked the 30th anniversary of its establishment on November 12. The site held a free 30th anniversary opening ceremony at its visitor center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., highlighting three decades of collaborative work to preserve the stories, histories and voices connected to the site.
The site preserves the location of a dawn attack on November 27, 1868, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer led the 7th U.S. Cavalry against the Southern Cheyenne village of Peace Chief Black Kettle. Black Kettle and his wife, Medicine Woman Later, were killed while trying to cross the Washita River; according to the National Park Service's account, when the firing ceased about two hours later, approximately 30 to 60 Cheyenne and 20 cavalrymen lay dead, the village's lodges and winter supplies were burned, and 53 women and children were taken captive.
Black Kettle had survived the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 and had long pursued peace with white settlers. The National Park Service notes that Congress established the site as a unit of the National Park System on November 12, 1996, recognizing the attack as a nationally significant element of U.S. government Indian policy and of the Cheyenne struggle to maintain control of their traditional homelands.
Anniversary programming also includes a Native artist showcase at the visitor center, opening November 12 from 1 to 4:30 p.m. and continuing November 13-15 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with Native artists displaying and selling their work on site. Under a resolution adopted by the legislature of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, a remembrance walk is also planned for November 27, the 158th anniversary of the attack, to honor the chiefs, warriors, women and children who were there.
Source: National Park Service
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Washita 战场国家历史遗址访客中心。Westmaroon 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / Photo: The visitor center at Washita Battlefield National Historic Site. By Westmaroon, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
