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Nill Ranch nestled in the Merricourt Valley of southcentral North Dakota and framed by a waving field of sunflowers. To the west is the rugged Missouri Coteau, an area once renowned as a great summer range for buffalo, and still renowned for its sloughs and deer and duck hunting. The Nill Ranch includes rugged pasture land just east of the Whitestone Hill battlesite, the site of the last great Plains Indians battle east of the Missouri. On September 3, 1863, U.S. Cavalry troops under the command of General Alfred Sully engaged Yanktonai and Hunkpapa Sioux Indians in a fierce battle. The tragic Battle of Whitestone Hill lasted for two hours, until sunset. It's estimated that between 150 and 300 Sioux lost their lives and 156 were taken prisoner. Lodges were burned, along with more than 400,000 pounds of dried buffalo meat which the Sioux were processing for winter supplies. It's believed that twenty soldiers were killed and fifty to sixty wounded. The site is marked by a museum built in 1941.
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