There were anniversaries.

Eventually there was a state historical marker.

Each form preserved a different part of the event.

The photographs preserved the reversal.

The court record preserved responsibility.

Oral history preserved emotion.

The museum preserved local context.

The marker preserved geography.

Together, they prevented the night from becoming merely a strange clipping in an old newspaper.

That preservation is especially important in Native history, where twentieth-century events have often received less national attention than nineteenth-century wars and treaties.