LOCATING THE CUSTARD WAGON FIGHT

Documenting a search for the location of the Battle of Red Buttes

Published: 18 February 2022

JAMES BROWN

ALLAN FRASER

JOHN GREBENKEMPER

STEVEN HAACK

RICK WEATHERMON

Introduction

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The authors and their associates performed investigations in 2018 at a swale within the area near the west city line of Casper, WY that is generally thought to include the location of the Battle of Red Buttes. Artifacts, interpretations of historical records and indications by historical human remains detections dogs indicated that the swale was likely important in the Battle of Red Buttes.

Following the Battle of Platte Bridge Station on the morning of July 26, 1865, an inbound empty supply train of four wagons escorted by 25 men under the command of Sargent Amos Custard, 11th   Kansas Volunteer Calvalry, crested a rise approximately four miles west southwest of the Station. Congregated on blurs above the Station, a large force of Native Americans immediately spotted the wagons and dashed westward to intercept them…

APPLYING CANINE DETECTION IN SUPPORT OF COLLABORATIVE ARCHAEOLOGY 

Abstract

This article explores the use of specially trained canines to detect the location of human burials in nonmodern archaeological contexts. It discusses the history of the discipline, training and field methods, the importance of developing a working relationship with descendant communities, project examples, an assessment of canine detection effectiveness, and ways to select a canine detection team. The article highlights how the application of canine detection training and protocols to the archaeological record makes it possible to locate potential precontact Native American burial areas without ground disturbance. In some cases, probable burial areas located by canines can be confidentially mapped to ensure avoidance during upcoming construction projects. For a variety of reasons, many Native American communities have been wary of embracing this new method to locate ancestral burials. Today, however, canine detection is widely accepted by many tribal groups in California to locate ancestral burials that might be impacted by construction. Although additional controlled studies and rigorous field laboratory experiments are needed to understand the range of variation in efficacy fully, available results in both North America and Europe demonstrate that specially trained canines can often accurately locate human burials that are more than a thousand years old to within a few meters.