Post by Treasuredude on Nov 17, 2006 22:05:27 GMT -5
MOBRIDGE - Two men working to restore and improve the area around the gravesite of famous Sioux leader Sitting Bull hope to find out soon whether or not the site near Mobridge will make it on the National Register of Historic Places. Rhett Albers of Mobridge and Bryan Defender of McLaughlin acquired the property over a year ago and have been working to clean and update the location, since. Albers says he and Defender hope to hear soon whether or not Sitting Bull’s burial grounds will become part of the historic registry. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has also added the site to the Native American Scenic Byway-which Albers says is another way to open the door for additional opportunities to improve the future of the site. The two men have been working to clean up and modify Sitting Bulls’ final resting place and it now includes electrical power and lighting, security and signage. Albers says in the long term, he would like to see the forty acres that surround the Sitting Bull monument eventually house a possible visitor center, which would hold displays and interpretive exhibits focused around Sitting Bull and Native American culture. He says there has been plenty of support from many different people for such a development. Albers says architectural renderings, cost estimates and plans for the development concept should be available from a firm they have been working with over the past year. He says the idea to improve the locale around the Sitting Bull Monument started on a small scale, but since they have gathered input from people who agree that the site is of historical significance, the proposed effort may end up costing in the millions of dollars. Albers says over the summer, it was noted that the Sitting Bull site had more visitors, which he attributes to clean-up work that has been done and the care it has received in recent years. Sitting Bull’s ancestors moved his remains to South Dakota in the 1950’s from an original burial spot near Fort Yates, North Dakota. Until recent years, the monument and bust had been neglected and subjected to some vandalism. Those wanting more information about the ongoing efforts for the Sitting Bull burial site can find it at www.sittingbullmonument.org.
