Battle of Washita River

The Battle of Washita River (also called Battle of 2.1 Winter camps on the Washita River
the Washita or the Washita Massacre[4] ) occurred on
November 27, 1868 when Lt. Col. George Armstrong
Custers 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettles South-
ern Cheyenne camp on the Washita River (near present-
day Cheyenne, Oklahoma), part of a major winter en-
campment of numerous Native American tribal bands.

1 Background
After the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho signed the
Medicine Lodge Treaty, they were required to move
south from present-day Kansas and Colorado to a new
reservation in Indian Territory (modern Oklahoma). This
forced them to give up their traditional territory for one
with little arable land and away from bualo, their main Location of Black Kettles campsite by the Washita River in 2008
source of meat and a center of their culture.[5] Months of
fragile peace survived raids between warring Kaw Indians By early November 1868, Black Kettles camp joined
and Southern Cheyennes. other Southern Cheyenne and other tribal bands at the
Washita River, which they called Lodgepole River, after
But in summer 1868, war parties of Southern Cheyenne, local pine trees.[8] Black Kettles village was the western-
and allied Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, Northern most of a series of camps, of Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa,
Cheyenne, Brul and Oglala Lakota, and Pawnee war- Comanche, and Kiowa-Apache bands, that ran ten to 15
riors attacked white settlements in western Kansas, south- miles along the Washita River.[9]
east Colorado, and northwest Texas. Among these raids
were those along the Solomon and Saline rivers in Kansas, Black Kettles
[8]
village was several miles west of the rest of
which began August 10, 1868. The warriors killed at least the camps and consisted of around 50 Cheyenne lodges,
15 white settlers, wounded others, and were reported to plus one or two lodges of visiting Arapaho and two of vis-
have raped some women, as well as taking others captive iting Lakota, for a total of about 250 inhabitants.[9][10]
to be adopted into their tribes.[6] Little Rock, the only council chief who had remained
with Black Kettle since the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864,
On August 19, 1868, Colonel Edward W. Wynkoop, In- lived with his family in the village. It also included the
dian Agent for the Cheyenne and Arapaho at Fort Larned, families of Big Man, Wolf Looking Back, Clown, Cranky
Kansas, interviewed Little Rock, who was a chief in Man, Scabby Man, Half Leg, Bear Tongue, and Roll
Black Kettle's Cheyenne village. Little Rock told what he Down.[10]
had learned about the raids along the Saline and Solomon
rivers. According to Little Rocks account, a war party Downriver from Black Kettles camp the Washita looped
of about 200 Cheyennes from a camp above the forks of northward in a large oxbow. At its northern [11][12]
portion was
Walnut Creek departed camp intending to go out against the Arapaho camp of Little Raven, Big Mouth,
the Pawnee. Instead they raided white settlements along Yellow Bear, and Spotted Wolf, a total of about 180
[12]
the Saline and Solomon rivers. Some of the warriors re- lodges. At the bottom of the loop was a large Southern
[11]
turned to Black Kettles camp. Little Rock learned from Cheyenne camp under Medicine Arrows. Followers of
them what took place. Little Rock named the warriors Little Robe, Sand Hill, Stone Calf, Old Little Wolf (Big
most responsible for the raids and agreed to try to have Jake), and Black White Man made up one large village,
them delivered to white authorities.[7] and nearby was a smaller Cheyenne village consisting of
the followers of Old Whirlwind. These two Cheyenne
villages, together comprising about 129 lodges, were sit-
uated along the oxbow southeast of Little Ravens Ara-
2 Indians in November 1868 paho camp and west of a small Kiowa camp headed by
Kicking Bird.

1
2 2 INDIANS IN NOVEMBER 1868

The Kiowa leaders Satanta, Lone Wolf, and Black Ea- Arkansas again, but my father there [the agent]
gle had moved their villages to the Fort Cobb area. sent for me time after time, saying it was the
Downriver were other camps of Comanches and Kiowa- place for my people, and nally I went. No
Apaches.[8] Overall, a total of about 6,000 Indians were sooner had we got there than there was trou-
in winter camp along the upper Washita River.[8][9] ble. I do not want war, and my people do not,
but although we have come back south of the
Arkansas, the soldiers follow us and continue
2.2 November 20 meeting at Fort Cobb ghting, and we want you to send out and stop
these soldiers from coming against us.[16]
In mid-November, a party headed by Black Kettle and
Little Robe of the Cheyenne and Big Mouth and Spot- Hazens October 13 orders from General William
ted Wolf of the Arapaho arrived at Fort Cobb to visit Tecumseh Sherman, commander of the Military Division
the post trader, William Dutch Bill Grienstein.[13] of the Missouri, had charged Hazen with making provi-
Griensteins wife Cheyenne Jennie, a Cheyenne origi- sion for Indians who wanted to stay out of the war. The
nally of Black Kettles camp, had died around October orders stated if General Philip Sheridan had to invade
10.[14] Grienstein had sent runners to inform her par- the reservation to pursue hostile Indians, he needed to
ents of her death, perhaps also sending a message to urge spare the well-disposed. Sherman recommended that
Black Kettle to come to talk with Colonel (Brevet Ma- non-belligerent Indians camp near Fort Cobb. Hazen
jor General) William B. Hazen about making peace.[15] knew that Sheridan had already declared the Cheyennes
The four chiefs met with Hazen on November 20, with and Arapahos to be hostile, meaning they were subject
Captain Henry Alvord of the Tenth Cavalry document- to attack by the U.S. Army.[18][19] Hazen told the four
ing the conversations.[13] chiefs he could not make peace with them. He recom-
Black Kettle began by saying to Hazen, The Cheyennes, mended against their coming to Fort Cobb, as their pres-
when south of the Arkansas, do not wish to return to the ence would jeopardize the peace of the Kiowas and Co-
[20]
north side because they feared trouble there, but were manches already camped there. He told them,
continually told that they had better go there, as they
would be rewarded for so doing.[16] Hardo notes that by I am sent here as a peace chief; all here is
the terms of the Medicine Lodge Treaty, the Cheyenne- to be peace, but north of the Arkansas is Gen-
Arapaho reservation had the Arkansas River as its north- eral Sheridan, the great war chief, and I do not
ern boundary. In April 1868, the U.S. Army distributed control him; and he has all the soldiers who are
food provisions due the Cheyennes and Arapahoes at Fort ghting the Arapahoes and Cheyennes. There-
Larned and Fort Dodge, both north of the Arkansas. Fur- fore, you must go back to your country, and if
ther, on August 9, 1868, they had distributed treaty annu- the soldiers come to ght, you must remember
ities in the form of arms and ammunition at Fort Larned they are not from me, but from that great war
rather than south of the Arkansas. [17] chief, and with him you must make peace.[16]

Black Kettle continued, asking if he might move his peo- Reporting to Sherman on November 22, Hazen said,
ple south to Fort Cobb:
The Cheyennes do not ght at all this side
of the Arkansas; they do not trouble Texas, but
north of the Arkansas they are almost always at
war. When lately north of the Arkansas, some
young Cheyennes were red upon and then the
ght began. I have always done my best to
keep my young men quiet, but some will not
listen, and since the ghting began I have not
been able to keep them all at home. But we all
want peace, and I would be glad to move all my
people down this way; I could then keep them
all quietly near camp. My camp is now on the
Washita, 40 miles east of the Antelope Hills,
and I have there about 180 lodges. I speak only
for my own people; I cannot speak nor control
the Cheyennes north of the Arkansas.[16]
Big Mouth of the Arapahoes spoke next, saying in part:
I never would have gone north of the
"{T]o have made peace with them would have brought
to my camp most of those now on the war path south
of the Arkansas; and as General Sheridan is to punish
those at war and might follow them in afterwards, a sec-
ond Chivington aair might occur, which I could not
prevent.[21] Hazen reported that while the chiefs seemed
sincere, the Kiowa and Comanche at Fort Cobb said the
young warriors who accompanied the chiefs were pleased
that peace had not been made. They boasted that the
Lakota and other northern bands would come down the
following spring to clean out the entire country.[21][22]
Hazen took the young warriors boasts so seriously that he
requested two more companies of the 10th Cavalry from
Fort Arbuckle and two howitzers to remain for a week or
two at Fort Cobb.[21][23]
2.3 Black Kettles return to the Washita
Black Kettle and the other chiefs departed Fort Cobb
on about November 21 with food supplied by Grien-
stein, traveling through storm conditions. They reached

Washita River; vicinity where Chief Black Kettle was killed while
trying to cross river.
their villages on the Washita on the evening of November
26.[22][24]
The evening before, on November 25, a war party of as tles nephew Whirlwind,[34] which was ten miles down-
many as 150 warriors, which included young men of the river (ve miles straight-line distance).[35]
camps of Black Kettle, Medicine Arrows, Little Robe,
and Old Whirlwind, had returned to the Washita encamp-
ments. They had raided white settlements in the Smoky
Hill River country with the Dog Soldiers.
Major Joel Elliott of the Seventh Cavalry found their trail
on November 26, which drew Custer and his forces to the
Washita.[25] On November 26, the same day that Black
Kettle returned to the Washita, a party of Kiowa return-
ing from raiding the Utes passed through Black Kettles
camp on their way to their own village. They told the
Cheyenne that as they had passed near the Antelope Hills
on the Canadian River, they had seen a large trail lead-
ing southward toward the Washita camps. The Cheyenne
discounted the information, as they did not believe U.S.
soldiers would operate so far south in such wintry condi-
tions. The Kiowa proceeded to their own village further
east along the river, but Trails the Enemy decided to stay
overnight with friends in Black Kettles camp.[9][26][27]
Also on November 26, Crow Neck, a returning warrior,
told Bad Man (also known as Cranky Man) that he had
left an exhausted horse along the trail to rest. When he
went back to retrieve the horse that day, he saw mov-
ing gures to the north who looked like soldiers. Fear-
ful, he turned back without getting his horse. Bad Man
doubted Crow Neck had seen soldiers; he said perhaps
3
he had a guilty conscience from having gone against the
chiefs wishes by joining the war party. Crow Neck told
no one else what he had seen, fearing that he might be
laughed at, or chastised by Black Kettle for having been
part of the raid.[28][29][30]
On the evening of November 26, Black Kettle held a
council in his lodge with the principal men of his village
to convey what he had learned at Fort Cobb about Sheri-
dans war plans. Discussion lasted into the early morning
hours of November 27. The council decided that after
the foot-deep snow cleared, they would send out runners
to talk with the soldiers. They wanted to clear up misun-
derstandings and make it clear that Black Kettles people
wanted peace. Meanwhile, they decided to move camp
the next day downriver to be closer to the other Indian
camps.[11][31]
According to Moving Behind Woman, who was about 14
at the time of the Washita attack,[32] Black Kettles wife
Medicine Woman stood outside the lodge for a long time.
She was angry that the camp was not moving that night,
saying, I don't like this delay, we could have moved
long ago. The Agent sent word for us to leave at once.
It seems we are crazy and deaf, and cannot hear.[9][33]
Black Hawks brother White Shield (also known as Gen-
tle Horse) had a vision of a wolf wounded on the right
side of its head mourning its little ones which had been
scattered and killed by a powerful enemy. He tried to per-
suade Black Kettle to move camp immediately, but was
unsuccessful. But ve of Black Kettles children (four
daughters and a son) moved to the camp of Black Ket-
3 Sheridans oensive
General Philip Sheridan, in command of the U.S. Armys
Department of the Missouri, decided upon a winter cam-
paign against the Cheyenne. While dicult, a winter
campaign oered chances for decisive results. If the In-
dians shelter, food, and livestock could be destroyed or
captured, not only the warriors but their women and chil-
dren were at the mercy of the Army and the elements.
They would be forced to surrender.[36] Sheridan planned
to have three columns converge on the Indian wintering
grounds just east of the Texas Panhandle: one from Fort
Lyon in Colorado, one from Fort Bascom in New Mex-
ico, and one from a supply camp to be established (Camp
Supply). (It was later renamed Fort Supply in the Indian
Territory.) Lt. Col. George A. Custer led the 7th Cavalry
forces against the various bands on the Washita River.[36]
4 5 THE ROLE OF INDIAN NONCOMBATANTS IN CUSTERS STRATEGY
Map of the battle
4 The attack
On November 26, 1868, Custers Osage scouts located
the trail of an Indian war party. Custers troops followed
this trail all day without a break until nightfall, when they
rested briey until there was sucient moonlight to con-
tinue. When they reached Black Kettles village, Custer
divided his force into four parts, each moving into po-
sition so that at rst daylight they could simultaneously
converge on the village.[37] At daybreak, as the columns
attacked, Double Wolf awoke and red his gun to alert
the village; he was among the rst to die in the charge.[38]
The Cheyenne warriors hurriedly left their lodges to take
cover behind trees and in deep ravines. Custer soon con-
trolled the village, but it took longer to quell all remaining
resistance.[39]
Black Kettle and his wife, Medicine Woman, were shot
in the back and killed while eeing on a pony.[40][41] Fol-
lowing the capture of Black Kettles village, Custer found
himself in a precarious position. As the ghting began
to subside, he saw large groups of mounted Indians gath-
ering on nearby hilltops and learned that Black Kettles
village was only one of many Indian encampments along
the river. Fearing an attack, he ordered some of his men
to take defensive positions while the others were to seize
the Indians belongings and horses. They destroyed what
they did not want or could not carry, including about
675 ponies and horses. They spared 200 horses to carry
prisoners.[42]
General Custer Marching to Cheyenne Village, 1868
Near nightfall, fearing the outlying Indians would nd and
attack his supply train, Custer began marching toward the
other encampments. The surrounding Indians retreated,
at which point Custer turned around and returned to his
supply train.[43]
In his rst report of the battle to Gen. Sheridan on
November 28, 1868, Custer reported that by actual and
careful examination after the battle, his men found the
bodies of 103 warriors[44] a gure echoed by Sheridan
when he relayed news of the Washita ght to Bvt. Maj.
Gen. W.A. Nichols the following day.[45] In fact, no count
of the dead had been made.[46][47] The reported number
was based on Custers reports from his ocers the day af-
ter the attack, during their return to Camp Supply.[46][48]
Cheyenne and other Indian estimates of the Indian ca-
sualties at the Washita, as well as estimates by Custers
civilian scouts, are much lower.[48]
According to a modern account by the United States
Army Center of Military History, the 7th Cavalry had 21
ocers and men killed and 13 wounded at the Washita.
They estimated the Indians had perhaps 50 killed and
as many wounded.[36] Twenty of the soldiers killed were
part of a small detachment led by Major Joel Elliott,[49]
who was among the dead. Elliott had separated from the
three companies he led, apparently without Custers ap-
proval. Yelling Heres for a brevet or a con!",[50][51]
Elliott and his small band pursued a group of eeing
Cheyenne. Elliotts contingent ran into a mixed party
of Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Arapaho warriors who were
rushing from villages up the river to aid Black Kettles
encampment.[52] The warriors overwhelmed the small
troop in a single charge.[49]
Custers abrupt withdrawal without determining the fate
of Elliott and the missing troopers darkened Custers rep-
utation among his peers. There was deep resentment
within the 7th Cavalry that never healed.[53] In particular,
Eliotts friend and H Company captain Frederick Ben-
teen never forgave Custer for abandoning Elliott and his
troopers. Eight years later, when Benteen failed to race to
Custers aid at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, his actions
were closely examined in light of his long-standing anger
toward Custer for the events at the Washita River.
5 The role of Indian noncombat-
ants in Custers strategy
The Southern Cheyenne encampment on the Washita
River comprised a key component in Custers eld strat-
egy Indian noncombatants. Women, children, the el-
derly or disabled[54] were targeted for capture to serve
as hostages and human shields. Custers battalions in-
tended to ride into the camp and secure noncombatant
hostages[55] and forc[e] the warriors to surrender.[56]
Custer demonstrated the value of a strategy that uti-
lized capture[d] women and children to neutralize the

Cheyenne captives, taken at Fort Dodge, Kansas en route to the
stockade at Fort Hays; to the left stands U.S. Army chief of scouts
John O. Austin.
Southern Cheyenne superiority in numbers at the Battle
of the Washita.[54]
Author James Donovan describes the 53 women and chil-
dren seized at the Washita as captives or prisoners.
They were used by Custer to ensure the escape of his
regiment as Cheyenne forces from nearby villages be-
gan pressing his position.[57] Historian Jerome Greene
spelled out their function: "fty-three women and
children taken captive at the Washita served as assur-
ance against attack from the downriver [Indians] during
Custers extrication of his command from the scene late
on November 27..[58] As Custer advanced with his reg-
iment in a mock assault mounted women and children
hostages riding among his troops the warriors dispersed,
afraid that shots directed against the column might hit
the prisoners.[59]
Larry Sklenar, in his narrative of the Washita battle, de- Colonel Ranald Mackenzie, with elements of the Fourth
scribes the role of hostages as human shields:
Custer probably could not have pulled o
this tactical coup [at the Washita] had he not
had in his possession the fty-some women and
children captives. Although not hostages in
the narrowest meaning of the word, doubtlessly
it occurred to Custer that the family-oriented
[Cheyenne] warriors would not attack the Sev-
enth [Cavalry] with the women and children
marching in [the middle of his column].[60]
Custer provided the military logic for tactical use of hu-
man shields in his book My Life on the Plains, published
two years before the Battle of the Little Big Horn:
Indians contemplating a battle, either of-
fensive or defensive, are always anxious to have
their women and children removed from all
dangerFor this reason I decided to locate
our [military] camp as close as convenient to
[Chief Black Kettles Cheyenne] village, know-
ing that the close proximity of their women and
5
children, and their necessary exposure in case
of conict, would operate as a powerful argu-
ment in favor of peace, when the question of
peace or war came to be discussed.[61]
General Phil Sheridan, commander of the Department
of the Missouri, issued orders for the Washita River ex-
pedition, including the following: "to destroy [Indian]
villages and ponies, to kill or hang all warriors, and to
bring back all woman and children [survivors].[62] The
purpose of this total war strategy[63] was to make all
segments of Indian society experience the horrors of war
as fully as the warriors.[64]
Benjamin Ben Clark, the highly regarded[65] scout and
guide attached to the Seventh Cavalry, recalled the ex-
ecution of these orders at the Washita: "[T]he regiment
galloped through the tepeesring indiscriminately and
killing men and women alike.[66] One cavalry unit was
seen pursuing a group of women and children, shooting
at them and killing them without mercy.[67] Lieutenant
Edward Godfrey observed that soldiers made no eort
to prevent hitting women during the attack.[68]
Ben Clark reported the loss of seventy-ve [Cheyenne]
warriors dead, and fully as many women and children
killed.[69] Greene notes "all warriors who lay wounded
in the village presumably no matter the extent of their
injuries were (according to Clarks testimony) promptly
shot to death.[58] This was consistent with Sheridans or-
ders to kill or summarily hang all [captured] warriors.[66]
The Seventh Cavalry tactical engagement of noncombat-
ants contributed to the eective destruction[70] of Black
Kettles village it ceased to exist.[71]
Cavalry, emulated the success and methods of the
Battle of the Washita in the lead-up to the Red River War
at the battle of North Fork, near McClellan Creek, Texas,
in 1872. Applying similar tactics, Mackenzies command
of 284 men attacked a Comanche village of 262 lodges
and 500 warriors, capturing 130 women and children.[72]
The captives served both as human shields, as Macken-
zie withdrew to his supply base, and as hostages, oered
as a bargaining tool to force the o-reservation Indi-
ans back to reservation, and to force them to free white
captives.[73]
6 Controversies
6.1 Indian casualties at the Washita
The number of Indian casualties at the Washita reported
by Custer has been controversial.[46] In his rst report
of the battle to Gen. Sheridan on November 28, 1868,
Custer reported that by actual and careful examina-
tion after the battle, the bodies of 103 warriors were
found[44][46] a gure echoed by Sheridan when from
6 6 CONTROVERSIES
Camp Supply he relayed news of the Washita ght to Bvt.
Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols the following day.[45] In fact, no
battleeld count of the dead was made.[46][47] According
to Lt. Edward S. Godfrey, no estimate of Indian war-
rior fatalities was made until the evening of the day fol-
lowing the battle, after the soldiers made camp during
their march back to Camp Supply.[46] On [the] second
night [after the battle], Godfrey told interviewer Walter
M. Camp in 1917, Custer interrogated the ocers as
to what Indians they had seen dead in the village, and it
was from these reports that the ocial report of Indians
killed was made up. The dead Indians on the eld were
not counted by the troops then, but guessed at later, as
explained.[74]
In his 1928 memoir, Godfrey related, After supper in unknown.[48] Hardor notes Custers revised total with
the evening, the ocers were called together and each skepticism.
one questioned as to the casualties of enemy warriors, lo-
cations, etc. Every eort was made to avoid duplications.
The total was found to be one hundred and three.[75]
Captain Benteen stated, in annotations to his personal
copy of W.L. Holloways Wild Life on the Plains and Hor-
rors of Indian Warfare, that Custer assembled the o-
cers to inquire of each how many dead Indians each had
seen; then what each had seen were added. They had all
seen the same dead Indians. [emphasis in original].[46]
John Poisal and Jack Fitzpatrick, mixed-blood scouts
attached to the Seventh Cavalry,[46] reported a dier-
ent number of Indian casualties to scout J.S. Morrison
when they arrived at Fort Dodge with the Cheyenne
[76]
prisoners. In a letter to Indian Agent Col. Edward W.
Wynkoop on December 14, 1868, Morrison wrote,
John Smith, John Poysell [Poisal], and Jack
Fitzpatrick have got in today. John S. was not
in the [Washita] ght, but John P. and Jack
were. They all agree in stating that the o-
cial reports of the ght were very much exag-
gerated; that there were not over twenty bucks
killed; the rest, about 40, were women and
children.[77]
The Cheyenne prisoners, interviewed by Gen. Sheri-
dan at Camp Supply, reported 13 Cheyenne men, two
Sioux, and one Arapaho killed at the Washita,[46] a g-
ure which Sheridan subsequently reported to Bvt. Maj.
Gen. Nichols.[78] The journalist DeB. Randolph Keim
interviewed the women prisoners with the help of inter-
preter Richard Curtis. He obtained the names of those
killed and arrived at the same gure of 13 Cheyenne,
two Sioux, and one Arapaho killed.[79] Later information
from various Cheyenne sources, most of them indepen-
dent of each other, tended to conrm the gures given by
the Cheyenne women prisoners.[46] Few of the military
reports noted casualties among the women and children.
Custer acknowledged in his report, In the excitement of
the ght, as well as in self-defence, it so happened that
some of the squaws and a few of the children were killed
and wounded....[44]
After Custer and Sheridan visited the battleeld in De-
cember, Custer revised his initial estimate of 103 war-
riors killed upward. He wrote from Fort Cobb,
The Indians admit a loss of 140 killed, be-
sides a heavy loss of wounded. This, with
the Indian prisoners we have in our possession,
makes the entire loss of the Indian in killed,
wounded, and missing not far from 300.[80]
Hoig points out that if true, the number would mean
that virtually everyone in Black Kettles village was killed
or captured.[47] Greene states, Custers gures were in-
ated, and the specic sources of his information remain
This new number was based on information
obtained from two imprisoned Kiowa chiefs at
Fort Cobb who faced death by hanging. In
view of their predicament, it seems likely that
these men would have said anything to avoid
the gallows. But such skepticism is not war-
ranted in the case of the Washita prisoners.
The Cheyenne women were allowed to mingle
freely with the ocers and knew many of them
on an intimate basis. They were assured good
treatment and had no apparent reason to distort
their statements about dead kinsmen.[46]
Greene nds the Cheyenne and other Indian estimates
most reliable. He writes, As might be expected, the
best estimates must come from the people who suered
the losses, though noting, even these do not agree.[48]
Utley, however, writes, Indian calculations a dozen
warriors and twice as many women and children killed
are as improbably low as Custers are high.[81] Hoig
writes, Even though the number 103 was not arrived at
by a precise battleeld count, it is a denite gure which
has already been placed on historical markers of the bat-
tleeld. Since it will likely never be proved absolutely
incorrect, the gure will undoubtedly remain accepted as
the number of Indians killed by Custer at the Washita.
History should make it clear, however, that the dead were
by no means all warriors who were met in open battle and
defeated.[82]
Several of the Cheyenne accounts provide names of men
killed at the Washita.[79][83][84][85][86] In his book on the
Washita, Greene provides an appendix of Known Vil-
lage Fatalities at the Washita. He compiled a list of
all unique names, for a total of 40 men, 12 women (of
whom 11 are unidentied), and six unidentied children.
Greene notes that some individuals might have more than
one name, so some entries might be duplicates.[87] Using
the same sources, Richard G. Hardor has compiled a
Composite List of Names. It partially reconciles mul-
tiple names (or multiple translations of the same name)
 7

among the dierent sources; for example, the Mexican
Pilan, with Indian names White Bear and Tall White
Man; or Bitter Man/Cranky Man, also known as Bad
Man. Writes Hardor, Some of the dead may have
been identied by their birth name by one informant and
by their nickname by another. Variations in the trans-
lation of personal names add to the confusion in the
identication....[88]
tions. The December 14 New York Tribune reported,
Col. Wynkoop, agent for the Cheyenne and Arapa-
hos Indians, has published his letter of resignation. He
regards Gen. Custers late ght as simply a massacre,
and says that Black Kettle and his band, friendly Indi-
ans, were, when attacked, on their way to their reserva-
tion. The scout James S. Morrison wrote Indian Agent
Col. Wynkoop that twice as many women and children
as warriors had been killed during the attack.

6.2 Battle or massacre? In Custers direct frontal assault on an armed and ostensi-
bly hostile encampment, the only fatality in the 7th Cav-
alry in the ghting in the village itself was squadron com-
mander Capt. Louis Hamilton; the rest of the dead were
with the detached command of Maj. Joel Elliott, who (as
noted above) were killed more than a mile from the ght-
ing in the village.[99] Companies A and D, composed of
120 ocers and men, suered only four wounded in the
assault, and attacking Companies C and K, also totaling
120 ocers and men, suered no casualties.[99]
Historian Paul Andrew Hutton wrote, Although the ght
on the Washita was most assuredly one-sided, it was not
a massacre. Black Kettles Cheyennes were not unarmed
innocents living under the impression that they were not
at war. Several of Black Kettles warriors had recently
The Indian Campaign, an 1868 sketch by Theodore R. Davis fought the soldiers, and the chief had been informed by
Hazen that there could be no peace until he surrendered
to Sheridan. The soldiers were not under orders to kill ev-
Following the event, a controversy arose as to whether
eryone, for Custer personally stopped the slaying of non-
the event was best described as a military victory or as
combatants, and fty-three prisoners were taken by the
a massacre. This discussion endures among historians to
troops.[100]
this day.[96]
Historian Joseph B. Thoburn considers the destruction of
The Indian Bureau described the event as a massacre of
Black Kettles village too one-sided to be called a battle.
innocent Indians, and humanitarian groups denounced it
He reasons that had a superior force of Indians attacked a
as cold-blooded butchery.[96] The Cheyenne survivors
white settlement containing no more people than were in
considered it a horrifying event that gravely impacted
Black Kettles camp, with like results, the incident would
their lives and community; the loss of many tribal elders,
doubtless have been heralded as a massacre.[96] Histo-
in particular, was profoundly damaging to Cheyenne fam-
rian Stan Hoig argues that the conict t the denition of
ilies and society. Modern Cheyenne consider the event a
a massacre because a group of people, even one in posses-
massacre and are campaigning to change the name of the
sion of weapons as the Cheyenne were, were killed in-
historical site to reect that view.[97]
discriminately, mercilessly and in large numbers.[101]
Custer himself did not consider Washita a massacre, stat-
ing that he did not kill every Indian in the village, though
he said his forces could not avoid killing a few women in
the middle of the hard ght. He said that some women 7 In popular culture
took up weapons and were subsequently killed and that he
took women and children prisoners.[98] In his book about During the late 20th century, a time of activism for Native
the encounter, published in 2004 for the National Park American and minority civil rights, and protests about
Service, historian Jerome Greene concluded that Sol- the Vietnam War, lm and other media reected changes
diers evidently took measures to protect the women and in historians perspective on the Battle of Washita River.
children.[98] They also used the event to reect on contemporary is-
[102]
By early December 1868, the attack had provoked de- sues. In the 1970 lm Little Big Man, based on the
bate and criticism in the press. In the December 9 Leav- 1964 novel by Thomas Berger, director Arthur Penn de-
enworth Evening Bulletin, an article noted: Gen. S. picted the Seventh Cavalrys attack on Black Kettles vil-
Sandford and Tappan, and Col. Taylor of the Indian lage on the Washita as a massacre resembling the 1968
[103][104]
Peace Commission, unite in the opinion that the late bat- My Lai massacre by U.S. troops in Vietnam.
tle with the Indians was simply an attack upon peaceful The 1991 television lm Son of the Morning Star, based
bands, which were on the march to their new reserva- on Evan S. Connell's book of the same name, pre-
8 9 NOTES
sented the battle from the points of view of Kate Big-
head (Cheyenne) and Elizabeth Custer. It depicted Chief
Black Kettle as being killed by Custers troopers, and
Custers not waiting for word of Major Elliott. The fourth
episode of the 2005 TV miniseries Into the West depicts
Custer attacking and Black Kettle eeing the village.
The television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman aired
a special double-episode entitled Washita on April 29,
1995.[105] The episode set the scene of the Washita at-
tack in Colorado instead of Oklahoma, the site of the ac-
tual battle. It ctionalized Custer as deliberately mislead-
ing Colorado settlers about the dierence between Black
Kettle and his band, depicted as peaceful, and the Dog
Soldiers, who were attacking farms and railroad crews.
Lead character Dr. Michaela Mike Quinn made futile
attempts to argue with Custer and to warn Black Kettle
of impending massacre.
In the 2003 lm The Last Samurai,[106] Tom Cruise plays
[15] Hardor 2006, p. 307 note 9.
Captain Nathan Algren, a veteran of the 7th Cavalry of
the 1860s. His participation in the Washita action, de- [16] Hazen, W.B. (November 20, 1868). Record of a conver-
picted as a massacre, leaves him haunted by nightmares. sation held between Colonel and Brevet Major General W.
8 See also
List of battles fought in Oklahoma
Clara Blinn
9 Notes
[1] Black Kettle and Little Rock were the two known chiefs in
the village that was attacked, and both were killed. How-
ever, as chiefs they were not military commanders. Ac-
cording to George Bent, The whites have the wrong idea
about Indian chiefs. Among the Plains Indians a chief was
elected as a peace and civil ocer and there was no such
oce as war chief. What the whites call war chiefs were
only warriors of distinction.... But the Indian idea of a
chief is not a ghter, but a peace maker. Bent 1968, p. [24] Greene 2004, pp. 108-109.
324.
[2] Greene 2004, p. 111.
[3] Greene 2004, p. 103.
[4] Hoig, Stan (1979). The Battle of the Washita: the
Sheridan-Custer Indian campaign of 1867-69. Lincoln,
NE: University of Nebraska Press. p. 189. ISBN 0-8032-
2307-2.
[5] Medicine Lodge Treaty, 1867 [28] Brill 2002, p. 137.
[6] Moore January 19, 1897, p. 350.
[7] Report of an interview between E. W. Wynkoop, US In-
dian Agent, and Little Rock, a Cheyenne Chief Held at
Fort Larned, Kansas, August 19, 1868., Bureau of In-
dian Aairs, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. Published
in U.S. Senate, Letter of the Secretary of the Interior, Com-
municating in Compliance with the Resolution of the Sen-
ate of the 14th ultimo, Information in Relation to the Late
Battle of Washita River|. 40th Cong., 3d sess., 1869. S.
Exec. Doc. 40. Available wholly or in part in Hoig 1980,
pp. 47-50; Custer 1874, pp. 105-107; Greene 2004, pp.
52-53; Hardor 2006, pp. 45-49.
[8] Greene 2004, pp. 102.
[9] Hoig 1980, p. 93.
[10] Greene 2004, pp. 103
[11] Hoig 1980, p. 94.
[12] Hardor 2006, p. 276 note 1.
[13] Hoig 1980, p. 89.
[14] Hardor 2006, p. 289 note 1.
B. Hazen, U.S. Army, on special service, and chiefs of the
Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Indians, at Fort Cobb, In-
dian Territory, November 20, 1868. In U.S. Senate 1869,
pp. 22-23. Excerpted in Hoig 1980, pp. 89-92; Greene
2004, p. 107; Hatch 2004, p. 240; Hardor 2006, pp.
55-57.
[17] Hardor 2006, p. 56 note 2.
[18] Hoig 1980, p. 91.
[19] Greene 2004, pp. 106.
[20] Greene 2004, pp. 107.
[21] Hazen, W.B. (November 22, 1868). Letter to Lt. Gen.
William T. Sherman, U.S. Army. In U.S. Senate 1869,
pp. 24-25
[22] Hoig 1980, p. 92.
[23] Hoig 1980, p. 92-93.
[25] Greene 2004, pp. 109-110.
[26] Greene 2004, pp. 110.
[27] McCusker, Philip [U.S. interpreter for Kiowas and Co-
manches]. (December 3, 1868). Report to Col. Thomas
Murphy, Superintendent for Indian Aairs. In U.S.
House of Representatives 1870, pp. 7-8; Hazen 1925, pp.
310-311.
[29] Hardor 2006, p. 15.
[30] Greene 2004, p. 238 note 24.
[31] Greene 2004, pp. 109.
[32] Hardor 2006, p. 323.

[33] Ediger, Theodore A. and Vinnie Homan. (1955).
Some Reminiscences of the Battle of the Washita: Mov-
ing Behinds Story of the Battle of the Washita Chroni-
cles of Oklahoma 33(2): 137-141. Reprinted in Hardor
2006, pp. 323-328.
[34] Riggs, Stacy. (November 18, 1936). Account of Black
Kettles Daughter As Told To and Related by Her Son,
Stacy Riggs. In Hardor 2006, pp. 318-320.
[35] Hardor 2006, p. 318 note 4.
[36] Stewart 2005, p. 330.
[37] Hoig 1980, p. 124.
[38] Greene 2004, p. 129.
[39] Greene 2004, pp 128-130.
[40] Lewis, 2004, p. 231
[41] National Park Service, 1999.
[42] Greene 2004, p. 126.
[43] Greene 2004, p. 128.
[44] Custer, George Armstrong. (November 28, 1868). Re-
port to Maj. Gen. P.H. Sheridan. In U.S. Senate 1869,
pp. 27-29; U.S. House of Representatives 1870, pp.
162-165. Reproduced in Cozzens 2003, pp. 394-397;
Hardor 2006, pp. 60-65.
[45] Sheridan, Philip H. (November 29, 1868). Report to
Brevet Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols, Assistant Adjutant Gen-
eral, Military Division of the Missouri. In U.S. Senate
1869, p. 32; U.S. House of Representatives 1870, pp.
146-147.
[46] Hardor 2006, pp. 78-79, note 15.
[47] Hoig 1980, p. 200.
[48] Greene 2004, p. 136.
[49] Wert 1996, p. 276.
[50] Wert 1996, p. 275.
[51] Hatch 2002, p. 90.
[52] Wert 1996 p. 273.
[53] Utley, Frontier Regulars, p. 157-158. The bodies of El-
liott and his men were not found by the 7th Cavalry until
December 9, 1868.
[54] Fox, Richard Allan, Jr., Archeology, History and Custers
Last Battle. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma
Press (1993) p. 297
[55] Donovan, James, A Terrible Glory. Little, Brown and
Company (2008). p. 253.
[56] Robinson, Charles M., A Good Year to Die. Random
House Publishing (1995). p. 257
[57] Donovan, James, A Terrible Glory. Little, Brown and
Company (2008). p. 64
9
[58] Greene, Jerome. Washita: The US Army and the South-
ern Cheyenne, 18671869. University of Oklahoma Press
(2004) p. 136
[59] Greene, Jerome. Washita: The US Army and the South-
ern Cheyenne, 18671869. University of Oklahoma Press
(2004) pp. 183184
[60] Sklenar, Larry. To Hell with Honor: Custer and the Little
Bighorn, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman (2000)
p. 35
[61] Custer, George Armstrong, My Life on the Plains : Or,
Personal Experiences with Indians. New York: Sheldon
and Company (1874). p. 220
[62] Donovan, James, A Terrible Glory. Little, Brown and
Company (2008). pp. 6263
[63] Donovan, James, A Terrible Glory. Little, Brown and
Company (2008). p. 62
[64] Sklenar, Larry. To Hell with Honor: Custer and the Little
Bighorn, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman (2000)
p. 32
[65] Greene, Jerome. Washita: The US Army and the South-
ern Cheyenne, 18671869. University of Oklahoma Press
(2004) pp. 9394
[66] Donovan, James, A Terrible Glory. Little, Brown and
Company (2008). p. 63
[67] Greene, Jerome. Washita: The US Army and the South-
ern Cheyenne, 18671869. University of Oklahoma Press
(2004) p. 119
[68] Greene, Jerome. Washita: The US Army and the South-
ern Cheyenne, 18671869. University of Oklahoma Press
(2004) p. 189
[69] Greene, Jerome. Washita: The US Army and the South-
ern Cheyenne, 18671869. University of Oklahoma Press
(2004) p. 137
[70] Connell, Evan S. 1984, 2004 p. 200
[71] Greene, Jerome. Washita: The US Army and the South-
ern Cheyenne, 18671869. University of Oklahoma Press
(2004) p. 184
[72] Hutton, Paul Andrew (ed.), Soldiers West: Biographies
from the Military Frontier. University of Nebraska Press
(1987) p. 179
[73] The Handbook of Texas Online. (2010)
[74] Camp, Walter M. (March 3, 1917). Interview of Lt. Ed-
ward S. Godfrey. In Hardor 2006, pp. 130-131.
[75] Godfrey, Edward S. (1928). Some Reminiscences, In-
cluding the Washita Battle, The Cavalry Journal 37(153):
481-500 (October). Reproduced in Hardor 2006, p.
132-147. The quotation is found on p. 145. See also:
Godfrey, Edward S. (1929). The Washita Campaign,
Winners of the West 6(5-8) (AprilJuly), reproduced in
Cozzens 2003, pp. 339-354; an almost identical statement
appears on p. 352.
10
[76] Hardor 2006, p. 282.
[77] Morrison, J.S. (December 14, 1868). Letter to Col. Ed-
ward W. Wynkoop. Reproduced in full in Brill 2002, pp.
313-314. Reproduced in part in U.S. House of Represen-
tatives 1870, p. 11 and Hardor 2006, pp. 283-284.
[78] Sheridan, Philip H. (December 3, 1868). Report to Brevet
Maj. Gen. W.A. Nichols, Assistant Adjutant General,
Military Division of the Missouri. In U.S. Senate 1869,
pp.34-35. Reproduced in Hardor 2006, pp. 275-277.
[79] Keim, DeB. Randolph. (December 24, 1868). The In-
dian War. New York Herald. (Dispatch written from
Camp Supply, December 1, 1868). Reproduced in
Hardor 2006, pp. 297-398.
[80] Custer, George Armstrong. (December 22, 1868). Re-
port to Brevet Lt. Col. J. Schuyler Crosby. In U.S. House
of Representatives 1870, pp. 155-162. Reproduced in
Hardor 2006, pp. 66-79.
[81] Utley 2001, p. 70.
[82] Hoig 1980, p. 201.
[83] Bent, George. (August 28, 1913). Letter to George Hyde.
Reproduced in Hardor 2006, pp. 398-399. Also in
Hydes 1967 Life of George Bent, Written From His Let-
ters, p. 322.
[84] Grinnell, George Bird. (October 3, 1916). Letter to
W.M. Camp. Reproduced in Hardor 2006, pp. 399- [101] Hardor 2006, p. 30.
400. Grinnells letter states his information comes from a
letter from George Bent written two or three years ago. [102] Little Big Man (lm). Directed by Arthur Penn. Based
The Mexican, White Bear, was a Mexican captive, pur-
chased by William Bent (George Bents father). Accord-
ing to Hardor, White Bear, also known as Pilan, was
married to a Cheyenne woman and may have been a trader
working for Fort Cobb post trader William Grienstein.
Hardor 2006, p. 210 note 9.
[85] Bent, George. (December 4, 1916). Letter to W.M.
Camp. Reproduced in Hardor 2006, pp. 400-401. The [104] Dancis, Bruce. (2003-5-02). A shift to the rights: Sym-
name of the Mexican killed was here given as Pilan. Ac-
cording to Hardor, Pilan, known to the Cheyenne as
White Bear, was married to a Cheyenne woman and may
have been a trader working for Fort Cobb post trader [105] Washita. Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman (television se-
William Grienstein. Hardor 2006, p. 210 note 9.
[86] Hyde 1968, p. 322.
[87] Greene 2004, pp. 212-214.
[88] Hardor 2006, p. 402.
[89] Alvord, Henry E. (December 7, 1868). Summary of In-
formation Regarding Hostile Indians, Semi-Weekly Re-
port No. 5. In U.S. Senate 1869, pp. 35-37; U.S. House
of Representatives 1870, pp. 151-153. Excerpted in
Hardor 2006, p. 268.
[90] Alvord, Henry E. (April 4, 1874). Letter to W.B. Hazen.
Hazen 1925, pp. 310-311. Excerpted in Hardor 2006,
p. 269. Here, Alvord added one warrior killed to those
originally estimated killed in his December 1868 intelli-
gence report.
10 REFERENCES
[91] Grierson, Benjamin H. (April 6, 1869). Letter to John
Kirk. Excerpted in Hardor 2006, pp. 286-287.
[92] Colyer, Vincent. (April 9, 1869). Inspection report to
Felix B. Brunot, Commissioner, April 9 entry. In Report
of the Secretary of the Interior, 41st Congress, 2nd session,
Executive Document. Excerpted in Hardor 2006, pp.
367-371.
[93] Clark, Ben. (May 14, 1899). Custers Washita Fight
(interview). New York Sun. Reproduced in Hardo 2006,
pp. 204-215; casualty estimate on p. 208.
[94] Camp, Walter M. (February 8, 1909). Interview of Den-
nis Lynch, private, 7th Cavalry. In Hardor 2006, pp.
184-188.
[95] Magpie [Cheyenne]. (November 23, 1930). Interview by
Charles Brill et al., September 17. Daily Oklahoman. Re-
produced in Hardor 2006, pp. 302-311. Casualty esti-
mate on p. 310.
[96] Hardor 2006, p. 29.
[97] Hardor 2006 p.31
[98] Greene 2004, page 189.
[99] Hatch 2002, page 81
[100] The Custer Reader, Norman: University of Oklahoma
Press, p. 102
on novel by Thomas Berger. Written by Calder Willing-
ham. Produced by Stuart Millar. Performers Dustin Ho-
man, Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George, Martin Balsam,
Richard Mulligan. Cinema Center Films, 1970.
[103] Fuller, Graham. (March 5, 2000). Sending Out a Search
Party for the Western, New York Times, p. 2.13.
pathetic depiction of Indians in 'Little Big Man' is no small
thing, The Sacramento Bee.
ries). CBS Broadcasting, Inc. Original broadcast April
29, 1995.
[106] The Last Samurai (lm). Directed by Edward Zwick.
Written by John Logan, Edward Zwick, and Marshall
Herskovitz. Produced by Tom Cruise. Performers Tom
Cruise, Ken Watanabe. Warner Brothers, 2003.
10 References
Brill, Charles J. (2002). Conquest of the Southern
Plains; Uncensored Narrative of the Battle of the
Washita and Custers Southern Campaign. Norman,
OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-
3416-X. Originally published in 1938 (Oklahoma
City, OK: Golden Saga Publishers).

Blinn, Richard. (1868). Richard Blinn Diary: Tran-
script. MMS 1646 mf. Bowling Green, OH: Bowl-
ing Green State University, Center for Archival Col-
lections.
Connell, Evan S. (1984). Son of the Morning Star:
Custer and the Little Bighorn. New York: North
Point Press. ISBN 978-0-86547-160-3.
Cozzens, Peter, ed. (2003). Eyewitnesses to the In-
dian Wars, Volume Three: Conquering the South-
ern Plains. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.
ISBN 0-8117-0019-4.
Custer, George Armstrong. (1874). My Life on the
Plains: Or Personal Experiences With the Indians.
New York: Sheldon and Company. Also available
online from Kansas Collection Books.
Frost, Lawrence A. (1990). The Custer Album: A
Pictorial Biography of General George A. Custer.
Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN
0-8061-2282-X. Originally published 1964.
Garlington, E. A. (1896). The Seventh Regi-
ment of Cavalry. In Theophilus F. Rodenboguh and
William L. Haskin, eds. The Army of the United
States: Historical Sketches of Sta and Line with Por-
traits of Generals-in-Chief. New York: Maynard,
Merrill, & Co., pp. 251257. Online version dated
October 30, 2002 through the United States Army
Center of Military History, retrieved on June 29,
2007.
Godfrey, Edward S. (1928). Extract of Narra-
tive Account 1928. Richard G. Hardor, ed.
Washita Memories: Eyewitness Views of Custers At-
tack on Black Kettles Village (Norman, OK: Univer-
sity of Oklahoma Press, 2006), 132146. Originally
published in The Cavalry Journal, October 1928.
Greene, Jerome A. (2004). Washita, The Southern
Cheyenne and the U.S. Army. Campaigns and Com-
manders Series, vol. 3. Norman, OK: University of
Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3551-4.
Grinnell, George Bird. (1972). The Battle of the
Washita, 1868. pp. 3749 in Richard Ellis, ed.,
The Western American Indian: Case Studies in Tribal
History. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
ISBN 0-8032-0804-9.
Grinnell, George Bird. (1983). The Fighting
Cheyennes. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma
Press. First published 1914. ISBN 1-58218-390-2.
Hardor, Richard G., compiler & editor (2006).
Washita Memories: Eyewitness Views of Custers At-
tack on Black Kettles Village. Norman, OK: Univer-
sity of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3759-2.
11
Hatch, Thom. (2004). Black Kettle: The Cheyenne
Chief Who Sought Peace but Found War. Hoboken,
NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-44592-4.
Hatch, Thom. (2002). The Custer Compan-
ion: A Comprehensive Guide to the Life of George
Armstrong. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.
ISBN 0-8117-0477-7.
Hazen, W.B. (1874). Some Corrections of 'Life
on the Plains.'" St. Paul, MN: Ramaley & Cun-
ningham. Reprinted with editorial introduction in
Chronicles of Oklahoma 3(4): 295-318 (December
1925).
Hoig, Stan. (1980). The Battle of the Washita: The
Sheridan-Custer Indian Campaign of 1867-69. Lin-
coln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-
8032-7204-9. Previously published in 1976 (Gar-
den City, NY: Doubleday). ISBN 0-385-11274-2.
Hyde, George E. (1968). Life of George Bent Writ-
ten from His Letters. Ed. by Savoie Lottinville. Nor-
man, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-
8061-1577-7.
Lewis, Jon E., ed. (2004). The Mammoth Book
of Native Americans: The Story of Americas Origi-
nal Inhabitants in All Its Beauty, Magic, Truth, and
Tragedy. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-
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Michno, Gregory F. (2003). Encyclopedia of In-
dian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes 1850-
1890. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing
Company. ISBN 0-87842-468-7.
Michno, Gregory F. (200512). Cheyenne Chief
Black Kettle. Wild West (magazine). Retrieved
through Historynet.com on June 28, 2007.
Moore, Horace L. (January 19, 1897). The Nine-
teenth Kansas Cavalry in the Washita Campaign.
Address before the 21st annual meeting of the
Kansas State Historical Society. Kansas Historical
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lahoma 2(4): 350-365 (December 1924).
National Park Service. (1999-11). The Story of the
Battle of the Washita, Washita Battleeld National
Historic Site, National Park Service.
National Park Service. (August 10, 2006).
Frequently Asked Questions, Washita Battleeld
National Historic Site, National Park Service.
Moore, Horace L. (January 19, 1897). The Nine-
teenth Kansas Cavalry in the Washita Campaign.
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lahoma 2(4): 350-365 (December 1924).
12 11 EXTERNAL LINKS

New York Times, November 27 December 8, 1868. 11 External links

Roenigk, Adolph. (1933). Pioneer History of Washita Battleeld National Historic Site, U.S. Na-
Kansas. (Lincoln, KS:) A. Roenigk. Through tional Park Service
Kansas Collection Books.
HistoryNet Historical articles (including Michnos
Stewart, Richard W., editor. (2005). Winning the article on Black Kettle)
West: The Army in the Indian Wars 1865-1890.
Chapter 14 in American Military History, Volume 1:
The United States Army and the Forging of a Nation,
1775-1917, pp. 321340. Washington, DC: United
States Army, Center of Military History. CMH Pub
3021. pp. 328331 includes a brief account of the
Armys campaigns in the southern plains, including
the Battle of Washita River.

United States Army Center of Military History.

(October 3, 2003). Named Campaigns Indian
Wars. Washington, DC: United States Army, Cen-
ter of Military History. Retrieved on July 6, 2007.

U.S. House of Representatives. (1870). Diculties

with Indian Tribes. 41st Congress, 2nd session,
House Executive Document 240.

U.S. Senate. (1869a). Letter of the Secretary of

the Interior, Communicating, in Compliance with the
Resolution of the Senate of the 14th ultimo, Infor-
mation in Relation to the Late Battle of the Washita
River. 40th Congress, 3rd Session, 1869, Senate Ex-
ecutive Document 13.

U.S. Senate. (1869b). Documents Related to the In-

dian Battle on the Washita River in November 1868.
40th Congress, 3rd Session, 1869, Senate Executive
Document 18.

Utley, Robert M. (2001). Cavalier in Buckskin:

George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military
Frontier, rev. ed. Norman, OK: University of Okla-
homa Press. ISBN 0-8061-3387-2.

(1973). Frontier Regulars: The United States

Army and the Indian 1866-1891, McMillan Publish-
ing. Bison Press 1984 edition: ISBN 0-8032-9551-
0

Wert, Jery D. (1996). Custer: The Controversial

Life of George Armstrong Custer, New York: Simon
and Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81043-3.

White, Richard. (1991). Its Your Misfortune and

None of My Own": A New History of the American
West. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
ISBN 0-8061-2567-5.

Wilson, Hill P. (1904). Black Kettles Last Raid.

Transactions of the Kansas State Historical Society 8:
110-117.
 13

12 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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12.2 Images
File:Battle_of_Washita_map.gif Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Battle_of_Washita_map.gif License:
Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Custer{}s_Washita_prisoners_at_Fort_Dodge,_1868.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/
57/Custer%27s_Washita_prisoners_at_Fort_Dodge%2C_1868.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Bonhams Original artist:
unattributed
File:Edit-clear.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg License: Public domain Contributors: The
Tango! Desktop Project. Original artist:
The people from the Tango! project. And according to the meta-data in the le, specically: Andreas Nilsson, and Jakub Steiner (although
minimally).
File:Flag_of_Oklahoma.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Flag_of_Oklahoma.svg License: Public
domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:General_Custer_Marching_to_Cheyenne_Village_1868.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/
General_Custer_Marching_to_Cheyenne_Village_1868.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Transferred from [1] Original artist:
Harpers weekly, v. 12, 1868 Dec. 19, p. 804.
File:Red_pog.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0c/Red_pog.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
File:Seventh_Cavalry_Charging_Black_Kettle_s_Village_1868.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/
Seventh_Cavalry_Charging_Black_Kettle_s_Village_1868.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Transferred from [1] Original artist:
Harpers weekly, v. 12, 1868 Dec. 19, p. 804.
File:The_Indian_campaign.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/The_Indian_campaign.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: Davis, Theodore R.
File:USA_Oklahoma_location_map.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/USA_Oklahoma_location_
map.svg License: CC BY 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Alexrk
File:US_flag_37_stars.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/US_flag_37_stars.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims). Original artist: No machine-
readable author provided. Jacobolus assumed (based on copyright claims).
File:Washita_Massacre_Site.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Washita_Massacre_Site.jpg License:
CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: 7mike5000
File:Washita_River_Oklahoma.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Washita_River_Oklahoma.jpg Li-
cense: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: 7mike5000

12.3 Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0