Article: The owner of the legendary Medicine Hole on top of the Killdeer Mountains put up barbed wire and no trespassing signs and says no one is welcome there. Brian Benz said he’s tired of people thinking they can make decisions about his property so he closed it off. Benz, and nearby landowner Craig Dvirnak, said in joint statement that they’ve been disrespected by the National Park Service, tribes, North Dakota State University historian Tom Isern, the Killdeer Mountain Alliance and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. “Private property is private property. If they want to cause me problems, I’ll cause them problems,” Benz said. Benz owns land along the south side of the mountain that winds up there and he owns the actual Medicine Hole site, which offers a panorama of the historic Killdeer Mountain Battlefield and where a down hole rocky cavern figures into both Sioux and Hidatsa legend. Dvirnak owns land further west on the mountain top. It’s closed, too. The barbed wire comes after two controversies over the scenic, but quietly appreciated location. The National Park Service commissioned a study of the 1864 Killdeer Mountain Battle to Isern, the historian, and, almost simultaneously, Basin Electric Power Cooperative started siting a major transmission line through a portion of the battlefield study area. Benz and Dvirnak are angry that the battlefield study was commissioned without their knowledge last fall and blame Isern for presuming their participation. Only one acre of the famous battlefield where Sioux Indians took on and were routed by U.S. infantry is public land. And Benz said he didn’t appreciate people opposing the power line because it would affect the view from the Medicine Hole. “If people don’t like the view from my mountain top, they don’t have to go up there and nor does anyone else,” Benz said. “The people who are making decisions about my property have never talked to me.” Arnie Skachenko, of Killdeer, owns an informal parking and picnic area at the base of the Medicine Hole trail. Skachenko said he didn’t sign the statement because it punishes regular visitors who like to picnic and hike and don’t have anything to do with the recent flaps. “They’re picking on the wrong people,” he said. He said he doesn’t support the 17,000-acre study plan, though, and said “there’s no way in hell” he’ll allow it on his land. Rob Sand is spokesman for the Killdeer Mountain Alliance and a landowner. He said his group wanted to raise awareness and send a message that it’s a special place. “We support the rights of property owners, and I’m sure everyone else on that list does, too,” Sand said. “I’m sad about this.” The State Historical Society of North Dakota cancelled its annual Killdeer Mountain History Hike in July. Chris Johnson, who organizes and leads the hike, said he took it off the schedule when he got word about the feelings up there. He said didn’t ask for special permission. “It’s a loss, but we’ve got to respect what people are doing. We don’t want to trespass. I’ve liked the view; it provides an overview of how the battle occurred and a better perspective of where the army and the Sioux were moving,” Johnson said. Special events are planned at the Dunn County Museum, in Dunn Center, July 28 to observe the 150th anniversary of the battle, which Isern says was the largest-ever engagement of military and Plains Indians. Benz said he plans to stick with his “No Trespassing” signs, at least “for a couple of years. We’ll see what people’s attitudes are.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 09:52:35 +0000
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