They were showing that a symbol used against their neighbors had been stripped of its intended power.

When modern audiences encounter the photograph, the strongest interpretation is therefore not simply “Native men mock the Klan.”

It is “the targets of intimidation control the evidence of the failed intimidation.”

That distinction keeps the people in the image connected to the event rather than turning them into generic symbols.

The Archive Behind The Legend

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke preserves a dedicated Battle of Hayes Pond archival collection containing newspapers, magazines, correspondence, Klan propaganda, scrapbooks, photographs, and firsthand accounts.

The existence of such a collection is important because it allows historians to move beyond one famous image.

A legend is built from a few memorable moments.

An archive preserves contradiction.

Newspapers may disagree on crowd size.