A Hermosa Mystery: Battle River Cemetery 1880-1895
Professional anthropologist and amateur historian Lilah Morton Pengra investigated a local abandoned cemetery in Custer County near Hermosa, South Dakota, utilizing mortuary records, newspapers, site surveys, county property deeds and oral history, in order to reconstruct the origin of the cemetery, original name and persons probably interred there.
The book is illustrated with photographs of the site, scans of original documents, color-coded maps, as well as an Introduction, a list of abbreviations used in the book, an Appendix listing children's deaths in the Hermosa area 1886 -1900, a bibliography of sources and an index of the book.
The now-abandoned Battle River Cemetery is on private land which is used to pasture bulls. Please--- No Trespassing!
The book is illustrated with photographs of the site, scans of original documents, color-coded maps, as well as an Introduction, a list of abbreviations used in the book, an Appendix listing children's deaths in the Hermosa area 1886 -1900, a bibliography of sources and an index of the book.
The now-abandoned Battle River Cemetery is on private land which is used to pasture bulls. Please--- No Trespassing!
A Hermosa Mystery: Battle River Cemetery 1880-1895
By Lilah Morton Pengra
Lune House Publishing, 2020
© Hermosa Arts & History Association, Hermosa, South Dakota
ISBN: 978-0-578-83832-8
88 pages
Size: 8.25 x 11
$24.95
To purchase a copy of this book, see our storefront pages or contact us to find out when copies may be available during an event.
$27 in person
$31 media mail
$35 priority shipping
(prices include sales tax)
By Lilah Morton Pengra
Lune House Publishing, 2020
© Hermosa Arts & History Association, Hermosa, South Dakota
ISBN: 978-0-578-83832-8
88 pages
Size: 8.25 x 11
$24.95
To purchase a copy of this book, see our storefront pages or contact us to find out when copies may be available during an event.
$27 in person
$31 media mail
$35 priority shipping
(prices include sales tax)
About the Author
Lilah Morton Pengra earned a BA in anthropology at Grinnell College, Iowa; MAs in African Studies and anthropology and a PhD in anthropology at University of Wisconsin-Madison; and a post-doc in medical anthropology at South Dakota Tech, Rapid City.
She is retired and now researches, writes and lectures on multicultural and local history.
Her publications include Your Values, My Values: Multicultural Services in Developmental Disabilities (Paul Brookes Publishing, 2000), Corporals, Cooks and Cowboys: African Americans in the Black Hills and Surrounding Areas (Lune House Publishing, 2006), Sarah Campbell: The First White Woman in the Black Hills was African American (Lune House Publishing, 2009), Isaiah Dorman: Interpreting the Evidence (Lune House Publishing, 2017), and A Hermosa Mystery: Battle River Cemetery 1880-1895 (Lune House Publishing, 2021).
Lilah Morton Pengra earned a BA in anthropology at Grinnell College, Iowa; MAs in African Studies and anthropology and a PhD in anthropology at University of Wisconsin-Madison; and a post-doc in medical anthropology at South Dakota Tech, Rapid City.
She is retired and now researches, writes and lectures on multicultural and local history.
Her publications include Your Values, My Values: Multicultural Services in Developmental Disabilities (Paul Brookes Publishing, 2000), Corporals, Cooks and Cowboys: African Americans in the Black Hills and Surrounding Areas (Lune House Publishing, 2006), Sarah Campbell: The First White Woman in the Black Hills was African American (Lune House Publishing, 2009), Isaiah Dorman: Interpreting the Evidence (Lune House Publishing, 2017), and A Hermosa Mystery: Battle River Cemetery 1880-1895 (Lune House Publishing, 2021).
The Mystery of Battle River Cemetery
Chapter 4 of this book (pages 71 through 79) recounts the "origin and abandonment" of the cemetery, but Pengra writes: "The exact origin . . . is a mystery. . . No written records survive to document its origin . . ."
Chapter 4 of this book (pages 71 through 79) recounts the "origin and abandonment" of the cemetery, but Pengra writes: "The exact origin . . . is a mystery. . . No written records survive to document its origin . . ."