This 7.5 minute version of the documentary “Helluva Way to Treat a Soldier” summarizes the unbelievable story of a man who’s hunt for artifacts lead him to dig up and store the remains of a 19th century Buffalo Soldier in his house for over 30 years. Bureau of Reclamation, with the help of the BLM, began an investigation that would reveal a prolific looter who had been ransacking graves from a cemetery at Fort Craig, New Mexico. Archaeologists discovered that the remote cemetery, thought to be empty, still contained intact graves and had become the feeding ground for looters. Reclamation soon realized that the only way to protect the remaining people in the cemetery was to move them. The cemetery was too remote to patrol and there was evidence of continued looting by locals. The Fort Craig cemetery was excavated and the soldiers and civilians were repatriated at Santa Fe National Cemetery. They now lie in a place of honor.
