Image
AI
ge e ated
Fo
decades,
a
small
piece
of
C azy
Ho se’s
histo y
may
have
bee
sitti g
be eath
the
g ou d
i
Mi ata e,
Neb aska,
with
o
ma ke
to
ide tify
it.
The
object
was
ot
a
weapo
o
a
famous
po t ait
of
the
Oglala
Lakota
leade .
It
was
his
medici e
bu dle,
a
p ivate
collectio
of
sac ed
belo gi gs
that
was
t eated
with
g eat
ca e
by
the
people
who
i he ited
espo sibility
fo
it.
The
bu dle
was
eve tually
bu ied
about
six
feet
u de g ou d
i
1942,
whe
the
Seco d
Wo ld
Wa
made
its
ow e s
u ce tai
about
what
lay
ahead.
Yea s
late ,
the
family
etu ed
to
fi d
that
Mi ata e
had
cha ged
so
much
that
the
hidi g
place
could
o
lo ge
be
ide tified.
Why
C azy
Ho se
e t usted
his
medici e
bu dle
to
Fast
Thu de
befo e
1877
The
sto y
begi s
sho tly
befo e
C azy
Ho se
died
i
1877.
Acco di g
to
histo ia
Thomas
Powe s,
the
Oglala
leade
e t usted
his
medici e
bu dle
to
his
close
f ie d
Fast
Thu de .
Afte
C azy
Ho se
was
killed,
Fast
Thu de
ca ied
the
bu dle
to
the
ewly
established
Pi e
Ridge
Rese vatio ,
whe e
it
emai ed
withi
the
family
athe
tha
becomi g
a
public
elic.
Fast
Thu de
died
i
1914.
His
wife,
Je ie
Wou ded
Ho se,
co ti ued
to
p otect
the
bu dle
a d
eve tually
placed
it
i
the
ca e
of
Nellie
Ghost
Dog.
F om
the e
it
passed
to
Theodo e
Mea s,
Fast
Thu de ‘s
g a dso .
The
chai
of
custody
st etched
ac oss
oughly
six
a d
a
half
decades,
with
the
bu dle
emai i g
a
p ivate
possessio
athe
tha
somethi g
displayed
o
discussed
ope ly.
Medici e
bu dles
a e
packages
co tai i g
items
co side ed
sac ed
by
thei
ow e s,
pote tially
i cludi g
sto es,
he bs,
beads
o
hai .That
p ivacy
matte s
to
the
sto y.
The
bu dle
was
ot
simply
a
old
object
associated
with
a
famous
histo ical
figu e.
It
had
bee
e t usted
to
pa ticula
people,
a d
its
mea i g
was
tied
to
Lakota
t aditio s
a d
family
espo sibility.
How
Theodo e
Mea s
hid
the
C azy
Ho se
medici e
bu dle
six
feet
u de g ou d
Du i g
the
1930s,
Oglala
Lakota
wo ke s
t avelled
f om
Pi e
Ridge
to
the
No th
Platte
Valley
fo
seaso al
ag icultu al
jobs.
Theodo e
Mea s
was
amo g
those
who
fou d
wo k
i
Mi ata e,
whe e
people
came
to
pick
potatoes.
The
the
Seco d
Wo ld
Wa
cha ged
the
ci cumsta ces
a ou d
the
a ual
mig atio .I
the
autum
of
1942,
Mea s
decided
the
bu dle
eeded
to
be
hidde .
He
bu ied
it
i
Mi ata e,
oughly
six
feet
below
the
g ou d,
i te di g
to
p otect
it
while
he
was
away.
The
followi g
yea ,
he
joi ed
the
a my
a d
we t
to
wa .
The
locatio
was
emembe ed
usi g
the
la dscape
a ou d
it.
A
la ge
cotto wood
t ee
se ved
as
a
impo ta t
la dma k.
That
might
have
seemed
sufficie t
at
the
time.
But
the
people
who
bu ied
the
bu dle
could
ot
have
k ow
how
d amatically
the
a ea
would
cha ge
ove
the
followi g
decades.The
Neb aska
Histo y
eco ds
the
late
accou t
of
the
bu ial
a d
the
family’s
attempt
to
ecove
it.
The
o igi al
Neb aska
Histo y
a ticle,
“The
C azy
Ho se
Medici e
Bu dle”,
was
w itte
by
Thomas
Powe s
a d
appea ed
i
volume
95
of
the
publicatio
i
2014.
How
cha ges
i
Mi ata e
made
the
C azy
Ho se
medici e
bu dle
impossible
to
locate
Theodo e
Mea s
died
i
the
ea ly
1960s.
Seve al
yea s
late ,
i
1968
o
1969,
his
wife
The esa
etu ed
to
Mi ata e
to
sea ch
fo
the
place
whe e
the
bu dle
had
bee
bu ied.
It
was
o
lo ge
the
same
la dscape.
Acco di g
to
the
Neb aska
State
Histo ical
Society,
ma y
of
the
e o mous
cotto wood
t ees
had
bee
emoved.
Roads
had
also
cha ged
as
ca s
became
mo e
commo ,
alte i g
pa ts
of
the
tow
a d
its
su ou di gs.
The
la dma ks
that
had
o ce
made
the
bu ial
place
ecog isable
we e
go e,
leavi g
The esa
u able
to
dete mi e
exactly
whe e
the
bu dle
had
bee
placed.
That
is
how
a
possessio
that
had
bee
ca efully
ha ded
dow
f om
o e
pe so
to
a othe
became
lost.The e
is
o
k ow
mode
ma ke
ide tifyi g
the
spot.
Histo y
Neb aska
desc ibes
the
bu dle
as
bei g
“six
feet
deep
somewhe e
i
Mi ata e,
Neb aska”,
maki g
the
locatio
a
u esolved
pa t
of
the
sto y
athe
tha
a
co fi med
a chaeological
site.
Why
the
family
eve
ide tified
the
co te ts
of
the
C azy
Ho se
medici e
bu dle
The
co te ts
we e
eve
p ope ly
ide tified.
That
u ce tai ty
is
o e
of
the
most
st iki g
pa ts
of
the
sto y.
A
medici e
bu dle
could
co tai
objects
ega ded
as
sac ed
o
powe ful
by
its
ow e .
But
what
C azy
Ho se
himself
placed
i side
his
bu dle
is
ot
established
by
the
su vivi g
accou t.
The
family
appa e tly
did
ot
ecove
the
co te ts
befo e
the
bu dle
was
bu ied
agai .
Powe s’s
accou t
adds
a
mo e
u usual
detail.
Acco di g
to
the
family
sto y,
whe
the
bu dle
was
ope ed
befo e
bu ial,
those
p ese t
hea d
a
sudde
distu ba ce
of
owls
outside
the
te t.
I
Lakota
t aditio ,
owls
could
be
u de stood
as
wa i gs
associated
with
death.
The
family
became
f ighte ed
a d
stopped
ope i g
the
bu dle,
w appi g
it
agai
befo e
putti g
it
i to
the
g ou d.That
episode
belo gs
to
a
o al
family
accou t
athe
tha
somethi g
that
ca
be
i depe de tly
ve ified
as
a
eve t.
It
is
the efo e
best
u de stood
as
pa t
of
the
sto y
p ese ved
by
the
family,
ot
as
evide ce
that
the
bu dle
co tai ed
a y
pa ticula
object.
The
official
Neb aska
Histo y
accou t
itself
e ds
with
the
u ce tai ty.
It
says
that
the
bu dle
may
have
emai ed
a
myste y
by
desig
a d
quotes
Powe s
desc ibi g
the
lost
bu dle
as
a
divisio
“betwee
the
thi gs
that
a e
lost
a d
the
thi gs
that
su vive.”
How
C azy
Ho se’s
lost
medici e
bu dle
diffe s
f om
the
famous
C azy
Ho se
Memo ial
The
lost
bu dle
is
sometimes
easily
co fused
with
the
much
la ge
public
sto y
su ou di g
C azy
Ho se’s
ame
i
the
Black
Hills
of
South
Dakota.
The
C azy
Ho se
Memo ial,
begu
i
1948,
is
a
e o mous
mou tai side
sculptu e
ho ou i g
the
Lakota
leade .
Its
o igi s
go
back
to
Lakota
elde
He y
Sta di g
Bea ,
who
app oached
sculpto
Ko czak
Ziolkowski
with
the
idea
of
c eati g
a
mo ume t
to
Native
Ame ica
leade s.
The
p oject
emai s
u fi ished.
A
sepa ate
sou ce
discussi g
the
memo ial
otes
that
the
pla ed
ca vi g
is
i te ded
to
become
o e
of
the
la gest
sculptu es
i
the
wo ld.
But
the
two
sto ies
poi t
i
almost
opposite
di ectio s.
The
memo ial
is
a
public
ep ese tatio
of
C azy
Ho se,
while
the
medici e
bu dle
was
kept
p ivate
a d
passed
quietly
th ough
family
ha ds.That
disti ctio
is
impo ta t
because
C azy
Ho se
himself
has
lo g
bee
associated
with
a
abse ce
of
co fi med
photog aphic
po t aits.
The
sepa ate
accou t
supplied
fo
this
a ticle
otes
that
he
avoided
photog aphe s
a d
that
the
locatio
of
his
bu ial
was
also
kept
u disclosed.
The
medici e
bu dle
fits
i to
that
b oade
patte
of
a
i dividual
whose
histo y
co tai s
delibe ate
sile ces.
A
public
mo ume t
ca
p ese ve
a
ame
a d
a
image.
A
hidde
bu dle
p ese ves
somethi g
else:
a
object
that
was
eve
i te ded
to
become
a
public
display.
