National Historic Landmark

Wounded Knee

Batesland, Shannon County, South Dakota
Listed
October 14, 1966
Type
Site
Period
Listed
Ref No.
66000719

About this property

The Wounded Knee Battlefield was the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 in South Dakota, United States. An 870-acre (350 ha) area was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1965. Along with all other National Historic Landmarks, it was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places when that program was inaugurated in 1966, listed as "Wounded Knee Battlefield". A museum at the site interprets the massacre. The National Historic Landmark nomination was drafted by 1990 with a latter consultation with Indian representatives. Following the suggestion that the Indian representation should be increased, oral history interviews were conducted with four descendants. The interview summaries were included in the revised nomination. The NRHP listing included one contributing site and one contributing object, and also 14 non-contributing buildings and 12 non-contributing sites. The non-contributing elements are fairly small and scattered so do not detract greatly from the setting. The contributing site is the area of the massacre itself, including the probable location of the post office and Mousseau's store. The contributing object is the 1903 monument. Non-contributing buildings include a log church built in 1975, a small frame dwelling, a concrete block visitors center from 1989, a log dwelling, a frame Church of God, a mobile home serving as that church's parsonage, three more frame buildings in the church complex, two other dwellings, and a concrete block building. Non-contributing sites include two cemeteries from the Catholic Church and from the Church of God, the Catholic Church foundation and basement from 1913 (burned in 1973), foundations and rubble of a 1930 store and gas station complex (burned in 1973), foundation of a concrete building, foundation of a metal building. The National Historic Landmark program provides some monitoring. As of January 17, 2010, its webpage noted: "The area suffers from neglect." The program's recommendation (change since last report) was that "The owners need to provide regular maintenance at the site."

Location

Batesland, Shannon County, South Dakota
43.14010, -102.36477

Categories

MILITARYEXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Native Heritage
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Nearby Battles

Wounded Knee Massacre — December 29
1890Indian Wars
0.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Wounded Knee listed on the National Register?

Wounded Knee was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 14, 1966.

What type of historic resource is Wounded Knee?

Wounded Knee is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Wounded Knee a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Wounded Knee has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Wounded Knee?

The period of significance for Wounded Knee is recorded as the listed era.

Can I research the history near Wounded Knee?

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