Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump honored with 2021 Christmas ornament

The Havre/Hill County Historic Preservation Commission presented the first of its 2021 Christmas ornaments to Anna Brumley and the staff of the Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump in an event that drew a significant crowd Saturday.

The commission honors one historic location in the area each year with an ornament depicting the building or site being honored, and this year's honors Wahkpa Chu'gn.

The ornament's design is based on a sketch by Alberta-based Artist Jim Marshall, who made the Jump's mural displayed off U.S. Highway 2 by Havre Inn and Suites.

The commission's Historic Preservation Officer, Becki Miller, presented the first of the ornaments to Anna Brumley, whose late husband John Brumley was instrumental during his childhood in the establishment of the jump as a historic site.

Miller said the commission wanted to honor the site and the people who work there for their efforts to preserve the area's history including the Brumleys.

"John would be very pleased and Jim Marshall would be thrilled," Anna Brumley said upon receiving the ornament. "... Thank you all so much."

She said it was great to see the site recognized by the commission and she knows her husband would have been happy, too.

"It's wonderful, just wonderful," she said.

Miller said the commission has had this "hidden gem of the Hi-Line" on their list of sites they been wanting to honor for many years and while they voted for the site before John Brumley's death, she's glad they have a chance to honor his memory along with the site he helped create.

"Sometimes we forget about historical sites that are in our own backyard," she said. "... We wanted to bring recognition to it and Brumley's work."

The Wahkpa Chu'gn site is a prehistoric bison kill site and camp used by Native American people over the last 2,000 years. People of the Besant, Avonlea, and Old Women's/Saddle Butte archaeological complexes are represented in the site area. John Brumley is credited with finding the archaeological site of Wahkpa Chu'gn - meaning little or middle river in Assiniboine and referring to the Milk River.

In 1961, while still a youth, Brumley became intrigued by the newly formed Milk River Archaeological Society, and decided to prove himself to the group by finding the bison kill site.

He found artifacts at the site during a dual hunt - for rabbits and for the site - and brought them to the society.

He went on to study archaeology and pursued that endeavor in Canada before returning to Havre 20 years ago and taking over the site as curator of archaeology for the H. Earl Clack Museum, which oversees Wahkpa Chu'gn. Anna Brumley managed the buffalo jump.

The couple retired in 2017 and moved to Arizona. John Brumley died July 20, 2020. A celebration of life for him, including a tour of Wahkpa Chu'gn following the ornament presentation, was held Saturday.

The commission has produced 100 of the Wahkpa Chu'gn ornaments, which will be on sale at the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce and the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum for $20.

All the proceeds from the sale go toward the commission's historic preservation efforts in the area.

This is the 11th year that the historic preservation commission has offered ornaments. Last year, St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church was the most popular, selling 250 ornaments.

Past year ornaments are still available including Hill County Court House, the Episcopal Church, Donaldson Hall at MSU-N, Fort Assinniboine/Northern Ag Research Center, Kiwanis Chapel, Clack Elevators, Burnham Schoolhouse, and the Carnegie Public Library. These are only available at the Chamber.