Battle of Punished Woman’s Fork
This Day in Kansas History
The last battle of the Indian Wars in Kansas took place in September of 1878 out in the western part of the state. The battle was between Northern Cheyenne who were on a journey to their homelands in Montana, and the U.S. Nineteenth infantry and Fourth Calvary under the leadership of Lt. Col. William H. Lewis out of Fort Dodge. The battle lasted one day and beyond the initial charge was mostly long-range fighting in the hills and bluffs where the Cheyenne had entrenched themselves to protect the women and children. The Northern Cheyenne’s journey started in Oklahoma where they had been sent to live on a Southern Cheyenne Reservation near Fort El Reno in 1877. With little food and a measles outbreak they were left with very little hope of survival. So, Chief’s Dull Knife and Little Wolf decided to take matters into their own hands and led over 300 Cheyenne from the reservation on the night of September 9, 1878, leaving their fires burning as they did so. The Chiefs and their followers made up of 92 warriors, 120 women, and 141 children headed Northwest back the Yellowstone country 1500 miles away.
By the thirteenth of September the U.S. Army found them. When Dull Knife refused to return to Oklahoma the fighting began. A fierce game of cat and mouse continued through the following week until the Cheyenne reached “Punished Woman’s Fork” on September 25. This place was specifically chosen due to the fact that the remote canyon had a natural cave at one end where the women, children and elderly could take cover. In the hills and bluffs, rifle pits were dug for the warriors providing cover during the fighting. Their plan was to lure the U.S. Army into the canyon, now known as Battle Canyon, and ambush them. On September 27, 1878, that is exactly what happened. Those who were not fighting took shelter in the cave as the battle began. The Cheyenne were backed into the canyon at first but then they pushed the Army back and took out Lt. Col. Lewis with a mortal wound to the thigh.
That night the U.S. Army drew back to camp and the Northern Cheyenne again made their escape leaving their fires burning. They continued North crossing the Smoky Hill river and traveling through Decatur and Rawlins counties on what became known as the Cheyenne Raid. On this raid they committed a number of depredations against any that they crossed. They made their way to Nebraska where they split the tribe in two. Half followed Dull Knife and half would follow Little Bear. Dull Knife and his group were captured near Fort Robinson, Nebraska. He and his followers would attempt an escape in the January snow, and most would die. Dull Knife, however, would escape with his wife, son and daughter-in-law and live out his final days on a Reservation in Rosebud Valley, South Dakota. Little Wolf and his followers wintered in the sand hills of Nebraska and then continued Northwest in the Spring, eventually reaching their homelands in Montana. Chief Little Wolf, for his part, became a well-respected Chief. He and his people went to Pine Ridge where they lived in peace for many years before being removed to Lame Deer, Montana and it was here that Little Wolf lived out the rest of his life.
The day after the battle, Lt. Col. Lewis was placed on a military ambulance and the Army headed to Fort Wallace which was about forty miles away. However, Lewis would bleed to death on the way, and he would be the last Kansas military casualty of the Indian Wars. Lewis is buried at Union Cemetery in Fort Edward, New York. Today the battleground is a Historical site owned by the Scott County Historical Society. It is located about 1 mile south of Lake Scott State Park on Highway 95 and is a fork off of Ladder Creek that now forms Historic Lake Scott. There is a monument over the cave now called Sanctuary Cave and this area is designated as both a State and National historic site. It has been preserved for over 140 years to tell the story of the Northern Cheyenne and their journey home.
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