Transforming battlefield to original condition means a lot of weed-pulling

Monday, February 14th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Cheyenne-AP) -- Officials want the Washita Battlefield to look like it did 130 years ago, when George Custer's Seventh cavalry attacked a Cheyenne village in the winter of 1868. There are no buildings on the National Historic Site, but that just makes it harder -- ask Kurt Foote.

As the resource management specialist for the site, his job is to weed out all non-native trees and vegetation on its 320 acres. For the last seven months, the 33-year-old has been inventorying trees and plants at the site near Cheyenne in Roger Mills County.

For clues to the battlefield's appearance, Foote says he's relied mainly on interviews with Cheyenne elders, accounts of the attack and two old railroad surveys. Site superintendent Sarah Craighead says it will cost about $109,000 to transform the landscape into a scene from the 19th century.