Sioux Falls in Minnehaha County, South Dakota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Amidon Graves Mystery
March 26, 2022
1. Amidon Graves Mystery Marker
About 200 yards southwest of this marker is the location long supposed by historians to be the burial site of Judge Joseph Amidon and his son William, ambushed and killed by Santee Sioux warriors on August 25, 1862. The Sioux war party was under orders to clear all settlers from the Big Sioux River valley.For decades the belief was held by many that the Amidons had been interred near where they fell. A linear earthen mound, about 30 feet long, eight feet wide, and four feet high, strewn with rocks and large boulders, was understood to mark their gravesites.
In 1991 the Augustana College Archeology Lab was employed to excavate the presumed burial mound. A crew led by archeologists Dr. L. Adrien Hannus and Peter Winham methodically extracted nine soil core samples, dug four one-meter square excavations, and cut a 21-foot long backhoe trench. No evidence of human interments was found; only debris piled up by farmers for almost a century was uncovered. The location of the Amidon graves remains a mystery.
Erected 2001 by the Minnehaha County Historical Society and the Sioux Falls
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology • Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical date for this entry is August 25, 1862.
Location. 43° 34.537′ N, 96° 42.793′ W. Marker is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in Minnehaha County. Marker is on East Amidon Street, 0.1 miles west of North Cliff Avenue, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1009 E Amidon St, Sioux Falls SD 57104, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Memorial to the Pioneers of Minnehaha County (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Amidon Affair (about 700 feet away); Magma (approx. half a mile away); Albert M. Mansor (approx. 0.8 miles away); First Concrete State Highway (approx. 0.8 miles away); Frederick Manfred’s “Siouxland” (approx. 1.2 miles away); The Dubuque House (approx. 1.2 miles away); Massacre Site (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sioux Falls.
March 26, 2022
2. Amidon Graves Mystery Marker
March 26, 2022
3. Amidon Graves Mystery Marker, from the west
March 26, 2022
4. Amidon Graves Mystery Marker, from the east
Credits. This page was last revised on March 31, 2022. It was originally submitted on March 30, 2022. This page has been viewed 362 times since then and 177 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 30, 2022.
