The Garden City Telegram

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Scott County claims damage to historic place

Published 2/2/2010 in Local News

By KATHY HANKS

Special to The Telegram

SCOTT COUNTY — The first battle of Punished Woman's Fork was in 1878, on land about 16 miles north of Scott City.

Now, 132 years later, a new battle is brewing.

But this time it's not the U.S. Army and the Northern Cheyenne who are embroiled. It's the Scott County commissioners pitted against alleged trespassers. Scott County Sheriff Glenn Anderson recently filed a criminal damage to property complaint against TGC Industries, Plano, Texas, because of the extensive damage company vehicles allegedly did to the ground surrounding a National Historic Place known as Battle Canyon.

Six times either the commissioners, county attorney or county clerk denied requests by the company to go on the 30-acre property owned by the county, said Commissioner Larry Hoeme, as he pointed out the huge ruts created by a vehicle with heavy 30-inch-wide traction tires. The seismograph crew's vehicles are equipped to travel cross-country, covering a lot of territory as they vibrate and shake the ground sending sound waves into the earth's crust. The company gathers seismic data for the oil and gas industry and states on its Web site that they are "experts in acquiring data in technically complex, logistically difficult and environmentally sensitive areas."

Despite being denied access, Hoeme said, "They still went on the land."

The rare view

Driving north out of Scott City on Jan. 25, Hoeme gave a tour of the site where the last Indian battle in Kansas was fought between the Cavalry and the Northern Cheyenne.

Turning off U.S. Highway 83, the land changed dramatically from a level, treeless, short-grass prairie to rocky bluffs. Hoeme pulled his pickup near the edge of the bluff looking down on a narrow valley where the band of Northern Cheyenne stopped on their journey to their home in Montana.

"Archeologists were so impressed with the pristine view," Hoeme said, standing next to the stone monument to Battle Canyon. The site was nominated for the National Register in 2007.

"The horizon is the same as it would have been when the battle took place. If you could bring those people forward 132 years, they would recognize the view," Hoeme said. However, on the day Hoeme was viewing the site, deep ruts from tire tracks, made in late November 2009, were visible.

Tim Weston, a Kansas historic preservation archaeologist, said National Register of Historic Places were more rare than historic sites.

"There aren't that many," Weston said. "Most counties have structures; even smaller towns have a courthouse or Carnegie Library, but not many archaeological places like this one are listed."

While Weston has not been to the site since the damage occurred, he has viewed photos, and he said there was no question that the location was damaged. He recommended the county contact the company regarding the damages. A possibility was to rake back the ruts and restore the landscape to the way it was. Several calls made to TGC Industries were not returned.

"Devastated" was how Scott County Historical Society member Larry Snyder felt when he saw the ruts. "We can't have this going on."

Snyder thought having the ground designated a National Historic Place would have protected the area from such damage.

It was a lengthy, seven-stage process to get the site designated, Snyder said.

This gives the area three important National Historical Landmarks and Places: Monument Rocks, El Quartelejo Ruins and Battle Canyon, 1878.

"Our main objective was to preserve the site for future generations," Snyder said. "It's a shame it had to be disturbed as such. "

An area rich in history

According to Albert and Vernon Maddux, authors of "The Battle of Punished Woman's Fork," the area had provided a home for American Indians for several centuries, including the pueblos of El Quartelejo, which still would have been standing in 1878.

Weston wrote in a 2007 Kansas Preservation magazine article that the Cheyenne arrived in the Ladder Creek Valley, a familiar hunting ground, on their trek back to Montana, knowing the army was in pursuit.

"They chose a narrow tributary known today as Battle Canyon, and set about preparing an ambush for approaching soldiers by digging rifle pits above prominent ledges and concealing their horses," Weston said.

Led by Dull Knife and Little Wolf, they were a group of about 353 people — 92 warriors, 120 women and 141 children. Col. William Lewis, who led the Cavalry, was killed in the battle, and became the last army office killed in military action in Kansas.

It was a sophisticated, well planned battle on the part of the Cheyenne. Though they lost most of their pony herd, they managed to quietly escape the canyon during the night. Healing the land.

Glenn didn't know if TGC Industries had responded yet to the charges. Scott County Attorney John Shirley was out of the country.

"The land will heal," Hoeme said. "But, it will take years, and I will never live to see it healed."

State archaeologist Bob Hoard doesn't see this happen often at a historic place.

"It's not the way to treat a historic resource," Hoard said. "It shows disrespect for the local people and the people of Kansas; it's just not right"

For Dennie Siegrist, El Quartelejo Museum manager and Battle Canyon tour guide, the experience of taking tourists to the site has been diminished.

"It's hard to go up there now and give a tour and say this is a pristine site," Siegrist said.

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