Cultural Resource Investigation of the Historic Fort Randall Post Cemetery, Gregory County, South Dakota

摘要

The goal of this investigation was to document the original land area of the Fort Randall Post Cemetery, and the number of internments. Remote sensing techniques were utilized to complement the historical documentation. Of 127 graves previously documented, 67 were recorded as having been disinterred and removed to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1893. Research at the Navy and Old army Branch of the Military Archives Division of the National Archives located two plans of the cemetery and the official quartermaster's record of burials. All recorded graves as well as a number of undocumented graves, were located, with subsurface coring confirming the presence of graves where depressions were not visible. One grave shown on the original plan to be extant was excavated and found to have been removed. Working with the original cemetery plan, the elaborate network of footpaths was depicted by outlining the borders with a paint-striping machine. Aerial photos were prepared to provide a visual record of how actual reconstruction of the footpaths might appear. Keywords: Archeology; Historic archeology; History; Cultural resource management; Cemetery reconstruction; Remote sensing; Contour mapping.