In November 1864, in southeastern Colorado, U.S. Volunteers troops attacked Black Kettle’s peaceful band of Cheyenne Indians at Sand Creek. In retaliation for the massacre and mutilation of 163 Cheyenne men, women, and children, Cheyenne warriors with their Arapaho and Sioux allies struck military and civilian targets along the South Platte River Trail. On January 7, 1865, 1,500 warriors attacked stage and telegraph stations, ranches, and wagon trains on a 100-mile front between Julesburg, Colorado – approximately fifty-five miles northeast of Sterling – and Denver. These great South Platte River raids closed Denver to the outside world and resulted in over 250 army and civilian deaths, diverted 8,000 Union troops from Civil War battle lines in the East, and cost the government some $30 million.
Battle of Summit Springs
July 11, 1869
Fifteen miles south of here at Summit Springs, the Fifth U.S. Cavalry, commanded by Maj. E.A. Carr, and a force of Pawnee Scouts attacked Chief Tall Bull’s Cheyenne Dog Soldier camp. Also prominent in the fight was chief of scouts William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and the famed North brothers – Maj. Frank North and Capt. Luther North. When the fighting was over, fifty-two Cheyennes lay dead. The Battle of Summit Springs – a great victory for the army – broke the military power of the Dog Soldiers and ended Indian-white conflict on Colorado’s eastern plains. Shortly after the battle the United States removed the Southern Cheyennes to reservation lands in present west-central Oklahoma.
(Wars, US Indian) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.