Overview
After the turmoil of the Great Sioux War, the Northern Cheyenne surrendered. While their Lakota Sioux allies were permitted to settle on reservations in their homelands, the Cheyenne were uprooted to Darlington Agency in Oklahoma.
The tribe languished in this alien environment where starvation, disease, and death decimated their numbers. Tribal leaders Little Wolf and Dull Knife rebelled. Homesick for Montana, more than 300 warriors, women, and children bolted for their former homes.
During the next month these two leaders skillfully maneuvered the group from Oklahoma to Nebraska. Many times soldiers caught up to them only to be thwarted by Indian resistance. After crossing the Platte River, Dull Knife and Little Wolf separated. Dull Knife and his 150 followers surrendered and were imprisoned at Fort Robinson. Dull Knife was adamant — there would be no return to Oklahoma. When food and heat were denied, he led an outbreak on the cold night of January 9, 1879. Military patrols acted quickly, killing and capturing more than half the Indians. News of the tragedy triggered a flood of indignation, and in 1883 the government established a Cheyenne Reservation in Montana.
Historian Guide Neil Mangum is a career historian, a well-known authority on the Indian Wars, and a master story teller. His portrayal of this American epic will make your trip an exceptional learning vacation. |
Day by Day
Day 1, Sunday, September 7 Gathering day at the Waterford Marriott Hotel in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for a welcome dinner and briefing hosted by Neil Mangum and HistoryAmerica.
Day 2, Monday, September 8 You will travel this morning to the Darlington Agency to visit the museum and the historic buildings that date back to the Cheyenne exodus. In the afternoon you will see the site of the Cheyenne village at Calumet, the scene of the Cheyenne outbreak of September 1878, and pass by Turkey Springs Battlefield, site of the first confrontation between the Cheyenne and the military.
Day 3, Tuesday, September 9 The first stop today will be Fort Supply, site of the old military base of operations. Many of the troops sent in pursuit originated from this post. Next you will visit the graves of the salt haulers near Camp Houston, where the Cheyenne, on their northern exodus, killed several cowboys. After lunch walk the battlefield of White Bear Creek; then on to the Cimarron Crossing, followed by a visit to the Santa Fe Trail ruts and a tour of Fort Dodge.
Day 4, Wednesday, September 10 The day starts at the site of the Pierceville skirmish. You then tour the pristine site of Punished Woman’s Fork Battlefield. After lunch at Lake Scott State Park you spend some time at Monument Rocks and the Butterfield Trail Museum in Russell, Kansas. Next you visit the Fort Wallace cemetery and museum.
Day 5, Thursday, September 11 Oberlin, Kansas, is the first stop today. Here you tour the Last Indian Raid Museum, devoted to the Cheyenne raids along the Sappa watersheds, which ended in a number of killings. In the afternoon, still following the Cheyenne Trail, you will cross the Platte River near McCook, Nebraska. You end the day in Alliance, Nebraska.
Day 6, Friday, September 12 Today will be devoted to the surrender, incarceration, and outbreak of Dull Knife’s followers at Fort Robinson. You will visit Antelope Creek where Dull Knife’s people surrendered following the Fort Robinson exodus.
Day 7, Saturday, September 13 On the final day you will visit Fort Laramie. In the afternoon you will visit the Summit Springs Battlefield, scene of Major Eugene Carr’s victory over the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers in July 1868. The day ends in Denver at the Marriott City Center with a farewell dinner.
Day 8, Sunday, September 14 Depart at your leisure following breakfast, or ride the bus back to Oklahoma City arriving by 6 p.m. |
Neil Mangum