- Black Hills National Cemetery
Black Hills National Cemetery is a
United States National Cemetery located south of the city of Sturgis inMeade County, South Dakota . It encompasses 105.9 acres, and as of the end of 2005, had 19,147 interments.History
The area around the Black Hills Cemetery was originally inhabited by the Lakota Indians. French explorers went through the region in the 1740s, and
Spain laid claim to the area in 1762 until it was acquired by theUnited States in theLouisiana Purchase of 1803. Fort Randall was established in 1856, and the 1861 establishment ofDakota Territory brought more settlers to the region, but it wasn't untilgold was discovered in theBlack Hills that the area was truly populated. Under the Treaty of Fort Laramie, the United States granted the land of the Black Hills to the Lakota, but there was no stopping the settlers from entering the region, which led to several conflicts. Most of the original interments in the cemetery were soldiers who fell in battles of theIndian Wars , but it has since been used to inter veterans from every major campaign theUnited States has been involved in.Notable interments
*Sergeant
Charles Windolph ,Medal of Honor recipient for action at theBattle of Little Bighorn during the Indian Wars.
*SenatorFrancis Higbee Case ,World War I veteran,United States House of Representatives for the 75th–81st congresses,United States Senate from 1951 until his death in 1962.
*Franklin Peter Twiss, Wiconi co-founder's father (seeRichard Twiss ).See also
*
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
*United States National CemeteryExternal links
* [http://www.cem.va.gov/ National Cemetery Administration]
* [http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/blackhills.asp Black Hills National Cemetery]
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