the Assiniboine camp. Historical accounts differ on what happened during the skirmish, as there were no reliable testimonies. The best information states that: Abe Farwell testified that he tried to restrain Hammond in an attempt to avoid any violence. Hammond approached Little Soldier's tent asking about the missing horse. Little Soldier replied that his group had not stolen the horse but that it was grazing on a nearby hill. Both Little Soldier's and Hammond's parties were intoxicated, and negotiations between them fell through. Little Soldier offered Hammond two of his horses as hostages until the missing horse could be found, but the situation became increasingly tense as women and children began fleeing from the camp and Little Soldier's men began stripping off their garments in preparation for battle. The wolfers regarded these actions as a signal for a fight and lined up along a riverbank fifty yards outside the Assiniboine camp. In a last-ditch effort to avoid violence, Abe Farwell pleaded with the wolfers, asking them not to start shooting. Before he could continue negotiating with Little Soldier and the wolfers, Farwell saw Hammond fire his rifle. The rest of the wolfers, protected by the tall river bank, then fired volleys into the camp. The Assiniboine, using inferior weapons, returned fire, but were unable to sustain an attack due to the wolfers' protected position. The total number of casualties reported differs widely in various accounts. One of Hardwick's men—Ed Legrace—was killed, but the number of Assiniboine casualties was higher. In the personal account of Donald Graham, who joined the wolfers at Fort Benton and travelled with them to the Cypress Hills, he states that 13 of Little Soldier's men were killed in the exchanges of fire. After the battle, the wolfers buried Legrace in a cabin and set the building ablaze. Some sources claim that Legrace's wooden coffin still remains there to this day. The site of the massacre was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1964. Artifacts from the Cypress Hills Massacre have also been preserved at nearby Fort Walsh National Historic Site, along with reconstructions of Farwell's and Solomon's trading posts. Aftermath News of the Cypress Hills Massacre did not reach Ottawa until late August 1873, therefore the event itself was not very well known in Canada. The Canadian government soon took steps to have those involved extradited from the United States and tried for murder,