Episode 09: Kuntz Nokota Ranch: Saving History
The Nokota Horse developed in the rugged badlands of southwest North Dakota, one of the last strongholds for the Native Americans and the battles they fought against the U.S. government to maintain their way of life. The great Hunkpapa Lakota chief and medicine man, Sitting Bull, was forced to surrender to the U.S. Army in 1881 at Ft. Buford, North Dakota. Not only did the U.S. Calvary confiscate their weapons, but they took their horses. Fast forward 100 years, when the badlands horses were being fenced in during development of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and the herds faced eradication; Leo and Frank Kuntz stepped in to help rescue this rare and historic breed of horse. Having returned from the Vietnam War these horses gave the brothers a renewed sense of purpose. In essence, the horses and brothers were saving each other. This is the remarkable story of a family working to save the Nokota horses. Meet Frank and his daughter Christa, as they share their love for these wild horses and their efforts to return them to the Native American people from whom they were taken.
