What Price Victory: Human Remains Uncovered at Big Hole National Battlefield, 1991 (Restricted)

During the August, 1991, metal detector inventory of Big Hole National Battlefield, a partial human skeleton was uncovered. The remains are those of an unidentified girl in her late teens. The skeleton was on top of a camas oven, which is consistent with historical accounts of the disposal of some of the bodies from the battle. The body showed evidence of extensive post-mortem mutilation. The arms had been cut off and laid below the pelvis, one leg had been detached and was not with the remains, and a minimum of three hatchet marks was found on the ventral side of the vertebrae. The extensive post-mortem trauma is typical of trauma found at other Indian Wars battlefield sites. In many Native American cultures, bodies of enemies were mutilated to ensure that the deceased did not fully enjoy the afterlife.