Buried on the Prairies of Knox County

[Vicky]

If you have ever looked for kin who resided at Santee, you have no doubt seen the awesome Knox County site at rootsweb, and have spent time searching the excellent cemetery transcriptions by Judy. She wrote a book a few years ago about the history of the cemeteries in and around Santee. The book is titled, “Buried on the Prairies of Knox County”. Judy has graciously given her permission for me to post some of the book here. I have scanned the section about the Knox County cemeteries, and a few later pages I thought might be of interest. The cemeteries are listed on pages 16-57. They are in alphabetical order to help you search and the page numbers are at the end of each link. Judy even offered to send color photos of some of the interesting graves, which I have added at the end. These pages contain the history of each cemetery. For the transcriptions of burials visit here-
www.rootsweb.com/~neknox/cemeteries/index.htm
When it comes to recording the history of Knox County, few have worked harder, or contributed more than Judy, and to her, I am eternally grateful.
In the index I find some familiar names-
Black Elk p.99
Chief Standing Bear p. 48
Chief Wabasha III p. 29-30
Rev. Frazier p.23
Maggie Goodteacher p. 30
Hanyomani p.78
Mary and Rev. Samuel Hinman p. 54-55
Iron Elk p. 23
Kitto, Anna, Hannah, Joseph, Mary, Winnie p.23
Mazakute, Paul, Mark p.32-33
Moose family p. 23
Redwing, Alexander, Jane p. 24
Riggs p. 23-24
Rouillard, Anton p. 78
Wabasha , Napoleon, Natalie p. 23
Wakanhditanko, Ben p. 30
Wakanhiyayewin p. 23
Note: Judy wrote, “I have discovered a slight error since I wrote the book. The graves that I have listed as the Santee Catholic Cemetery, is actually two cemeteries, only half is the Catholic one, the rest is in the Episcopal Cemetery.”

i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/BuriedCover.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried16-17.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried18-19.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried20-21.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried22-23.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried24-25.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried26-27.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried28-29.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried30-31.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried32-33.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried34-35.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried36-37.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried38-39.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried40-41.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried42-43.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried44-45.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried46-47.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried48-49.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried50-51.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried52-53.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried54-55.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried56-57.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried76-77.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried78-79.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Buried98-99.jpg

i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Hinman.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/WabashaIII.jpg
i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/vickyvalenta/Buried%20on%20the%20Prairies/Poncagrave.jpg

Thank you Judy, for sharing this gift with us!

[Jimmy]

Great stuff! Thanks Vicky and Judy. On my recent trip, I got a good picture of Wabasha's grave.

[Jimmy]

I also found Napoleon Wabasha.

[hermin1]

Judy and Vicky thank you both so much for theinformation. god Bless you both.

[DarkWolfe]

jimmy said:

I also found Napoleon Wabasha.

Hi Jimmy,

Why is it spelled WaPasha?

Thank you,
DarkWolfe

[Jimmy]

darkwolfe said:

jimmy said:

I also found Napoleon Wabasha.

Hi Jimmy,

Why is it spelled WaPasha?

Thank you,
DarkWolfe

The P and B are somewhat interchangeable in this name. I have seen documents with both spellings, though it is most often found today in the B form. I don't know if that is true of the language as a whole, or just this name. I'm sure somebody else could enlighten us in this matter...

[Vicky]

There are many different spellings found for this name. Sometimes there is a "w' at the end also, not often, but I have seen it spelled-
Wabashaw or Wapashaw

[DarkWolfe]

Well gosh, I thought us white-folk were the only ones who could spell our names every which way, lol.

Thanks again guys.

DarkWolfe

[Vicky]

Thank you for posting these pictures, Jimmy. I heard from Judy last night and she dropped in here at Oyate, saw your photos, and was saddened that so much of the markers seem to have been chipped away since she last saw them. Souvenir hunters, no doubt. That's really sad.
DarkWolfe, I was looking at the 1874 Santee census last night and noticed that Wabasha's name is spelled "Wabasa", so there's another variation for you! You will find these variations also with the name of Chief Husasa. It has been spelled, Hushasha, Huzaza, and Husasa and everything in between. The "s" with the accent mark across the top (someone smart tell me what that's called) means the "s" is pronounced like "sh" and was at one time spelled with a "z". The same thing happened with the name Wabasha and the s with the mark on top. The Dakota letters used today are not necessarily the letters which were used in the past. Makes life interesting, no?

[Jimmy]

vicky said:

Thank you for posting these pictures, Jimmy. I heard from Judy last night and she dropped in here at Oyate, saw your photos, and was saddened that so much of the markers seem to have been chipped away since she last saw them. Souvenir hunters, no doubt. That's really sad.
DarkWolfe, I was looking at the 1874 Santee census last night and noticed that Wabasha's name is spelled "Wabasa", so there's another variation for you! You will find these variations also with the name of Chief Husasa. It has been spelled, Hushasha, Huzaza, and Husasa and everything in between. The "s" with the accent mark across the top (someone smart tell me what that's called) means the "s" is pronounced like "sh" and was at one time spelled with a "z". The same thing happened with the name Wabasha and the s with the mark on top. The Dakota letters used today are not necessarily the letters which were used in the past. Makes life interesting, no?

It does make me sad. I also found out that there was a tombstone for my ancestor, Mary Iciyapewin, buried in the same cemetery as Napoleon Wabasha, but about 10 or so years ago the cemetery was vandalized and her tombstone was stolen and never recovered. I wanted so much to see her stone, but it is probably gone forever.

[santee1961]

It's terrible when you see cemeteries vandalized and I don't think wanting a souvenir is an excuse for chipping away at a marker. There should be more respect shown. Maybe we should start a rumor like the one at the Volcano National Park in Hawaii. They say that you will have bad luck if you remove any lava rock and we'll just substitute cemeteries for Hawaii and grave markers for lava rock! Since most don't know that a great share of Nebraska is sand and we have enough wind to blow it around the environment does enough damage to the markers without vandalism added. There is a book which is called "My Search for the Burial Sites of Sioux Nation Chiefs" by Veryl Walstrom, DVM that list some but not all chiefs of the Dakota and Lakota. A couple years ago my sister and I went to the symposium held for the Dakota Letters which had been interpreted from the prisoners at Davenport. We were so blessed in talking with Sydney Bird, who is such a wonderful man and I am very proud to have him as a relative, and we were told that the letters were hard to interpret as the meaning of many words were different then now. A lot of slang has is present now that wasn't the case back then. There is a website and I'll try to find it and post it.
Also, please remember that the Indian Agents and clerical personnel at that time weren't required to be educated. We have found spellings for relatives that were so horribly misspelled that we had to check against enrollment numbers, other family names, etc. before we decided that they were our family members. Also penmanship differed and went from frilly to almost illegible which complicates matters. On the first trip to the Minnesota Historical Museum I think I left with more questions than answers. Now I really need to go back so I can hopefully fill in the blanks. I have gathered a lot of info. here and the Oyate is a tremendous research site thanks to Jamie and other admin who have worked so long and hard to get it to this point. Thanks once again.

[DarkWolfe]

I lived for a while, as a kid, in the Sierra mountains of California. My Dad liked to take road trips. He would find some dirt road and say: Let's see where this goes. There was/is a ghost town called Bodie, where they say souvenir hunters have had some very bad luck, when taking things from the town. Today many have returned the items to remove the "curse."

DarkWolfe

[Vicky]

I heard from a cousin today who informed me that the photo of the grave of Mary Hinman is Rev. Samuel's first wife, Mary Ellen Bury/ Berry, not Mary Myrick. I'm sure y'all knew that already. (I didn't!)

[hermin1]

yes, that was the first Mrs. Hinman. when that tornado ripped through Santee around 1870, Mrs. Hinman and their son were very badly injured. she eventually died and was buried at that cemetery. the other tragedy is that the church records for the church wereall destroyed as well.

[hermin1]

I found that I also have a copy of the book by Ms. Carlson. A very generous lady whom I was helping with her ancestor search re. the lawsuit, gave me a copy of it. shesaid she bought it I believe at Santee, or Niobrara, orCenter nE. it is a very good and informative book. also contains some ghost storiesabout some graves.

[hermin1]

when I was doing some genealogy research at the local library, and also on line, I found that the WPA during the Depression, had done many cemetery surveys in our area(South and North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa including the Reservations). I know the NARA has the records of thee surveys but am having a hard time locating them. I was thinking that these would be a good resource for those looking for their ancestors.

[wanbliho]

Sorry I'm almost a year late in reading this column but I never seem to have much time to spend on this site. However, in my g-grandpa Joseph RedWing's hadwritten journal he spelled Wabashaw "Wapasa" the death date is the same. Hopefully I can spend more time now that summer is coming.

Thank you to everyone who are so kind with their postings.

Wanbliho