This past winter the Western Chapter of The Massachusetts Archaeological Society, invited Nick Bellantoni to give a talk in Deerfield Mass. about the homecoming of Albert Afraid of Hawk. For those who may be unfamiliar with the story, Alfred was a Sioux Indian who in 1899 became ill and died while traveling in Danbury with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Nick was instrumental in locating Alfred's remains and in returning them to the Oglala Sioux Reservation in Pine Ridge South Dakota (See a discussion on this in Nick's column in the Fall, 2012 FOSA Newsletter).

Ed. Note: There is also an article on the retrieval of Albert Afraid Of Hawk's body from Connecticut to South Dakota in the Reprints section of this website; it can be found by clicking Long Trip Home. In it, reference is made to a website devoted to Albert Afraid of Hawk's life.

The talk went very well. Those who attended were captivated by the subject. After many questions Nick finished up and we began talking about the area and the history here in Deerfield. As many of you may know Deerfield is known for the February 29th, 1704 Raid during Queen Anne's war. The town was sacked; 50 people were killed and another 112 were taken captive and carried to Canada (New France). The attacking force was led by a coalition of French and Native allies of over 250 men. We drove over to the historic Albany Road cemetery (circa 1697) where we talked about the attack and the supposed mass burial site, which has a monument placed atop by the Daughters of the American Revolution, circa 1910. The mound has always been at the center of a controversy as to whether or not anyone was actually buried beneath. One thing led to another and our discussion was soon focused around a possible ground penetrating radar survey of the cemetery. Our Chapter Chair Dr. Aaron Miller and I soon had the planning stages of the survey underway even though Nick had not given us the official nod. That came a few weeks later when he and his team from the Natural Resources and Conservation Center (NRCC) added us to their five cemetery survey project.

I was so excited about the project I contacted the newspaper and they decided to cover the day when it finally arrived on June 19^th. We developed a project design plan and mapped out survey locations for the team.

The team showed up on the 19^th and started gridding off the selected areas and started collecting data. They spent the whole day with us and surveyed eight areas of interest staked out by our research plans. We were hoping to answer questions about unmarked grave locations, were there any below ground stone markers, does the 1704 mound contain a mass grave? These and many other questions were asked. As we finished up the surveys it was becoming clear that only a few possible graves were located. The mass grave was truly only a marker to the dead of 1704. We never really believed the mass grave had 50 persons buried there, but it was great to finally know. Those persons are somewhere in the burying ground, but where is anyone's guess. Hopefully technology will improve in the future and maybe researchers will return to continue the search.

A month or so later the NRCS sent us their report which was concise and included over twenty pages on the Albany Road Cemetery. Soil conditions, the age of the graves and not having enough time to survey the entire cemetery may have contributed to not finding more. The project and getting to use the equipment and the expertise of the team was the best experience we could ask for. The Greenfield Recorder has just done a follow-up story to help close the project.

I welcome anyone interested in the project, Old Deerfield or the Massachusetts Archaeological Society to give me a call or e-mail me for more information. Todd Kmetz 413-397-3484 or email at: tkmetz01@snet.net.

I want to thank Nick's office and the folks from NRCS for coming to Deerfield and helping us better understand our history.