Monument to a Scalped Pony Rider - Sturgis, SD
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 44° 24.124 W 103° 30.534
13T E 618737 N 4917612
Historians call them "Pony Express Riders" in error, there was only one "Pony Express"...they were Pony Mail Carriers.
Waymark Code: WMM5M6
Location: South Dakota, United States
Date Posted: 07/26/2014
Views: 4
County of memorial: Meade County
Location of memorial: Junction Ave. & Harmon St., hospital lawn, Sturgis
Memorial erected by: Society of Black Hills Pioneers
Date memorial erected: August 1876
Monument text:
CHARLES NOLIN
~ Age 24 ~
PONY MAIL CARRIER
Was ambushed, killed and scalped
On this spot in August 1876Buried here in 1876, locals re-interred him in June 7, 1889 in Bear Butte Cemetery
"Charles "Red" Nolin, pony mail carrier on the Sidney-Deadwood Trail, was ambushed, killed, and scalped here by Indians on August 19, 1876.
"On this evening Nolin stopped on Alkail Creek, where the National Cemetery is now located. Here a party from the "Hay Camp" now in Rapid City, were spending the night before hauling their hay on to Deadwood. Among those in the train were Jesse Brown, T.W. Leedy, Mrs. William O'Brien, Judge H.C. Ash, and Mr. and Mrs. Reason Rupe.
"Nolin was urged to stay over night because Indian war cries had been heard in the vicinity. He insisted on leaving as he had promised his mother in Nebraska that this would be his last ride.
"The next morning his lifeless body was found here. His horse had been killed and the mail scattered.
"The freighters dug a shallow grave with their hay forks and covered the remains with rocks. The pile is still in evidence. In 1880 the remains were moved to the Bear Butte Cemetery.
"Deadman Creek here and Deadman Mountain behind you to the southwest were named for the tragedy that befell that 24-year old carrier."
~ Sturgis Ft. Meade Bicentennial Committee
His grave site today on Find-A-Grave