Monday, September 28, 1874. The Battle of Palo Duro Canyon.

Outnumbered roops under Ranald Mackenzie attacked Cheyenne, Kiowa and Comanche at Palo Duro Canyon bringing about a legendary and significant Army victory in the Red River War and essentially bringing it to a close.

Casualties on both sides were overall light, but the loss of horses and supplies was devastating to the Native side.

Mackenzie is forgotten in the popular memory, although he certainly is not amongst students of the post Civil War Indian Wars.  He was an extremely effective but died a bad death at age 48, which may be part of the reason that he's forgotten.

Last edition:

Friday, September 25, 1874. The Act of September 1874.

Labels: 1820s, 1824, 1870s, 1874, Benito Juárez, Catholic, Christianity, Cristero War, law, Manuel Ávila Camacho, Mexican Revolution, Mexico, Porfirio Díaz, religion, Revolution of Ayutla, Second Mexican Empire

Saturday, September 12, 1874. Battle of Buffalo Wallow

Scouts William Dixon, Amos Chapman and soldiers Sergeant Z. T. Woodall, Co. I; Peter Rath, Co. A; John Harrington, Co. H.; George W. Smith, Co. M, 6th Cavalry fought some of the Kiowa and Comanche from the Lyman fight that encountered them on their way to rejoin their families on the Washita.

Billy Dixon.

The battle went on all day, with the soldiers and scouts taking refuge against the must larger native party in a buffalo wallow.  During the night, scout Billy Dixon went for help on foot which arrived the next day.   Two of the soldiers died in the encounter.   Their survival had a lot to do with effective marksmanship.

The troops Dixon brought for relief were engaged in a battle that day as well, at the Sweetwater Creek and Dry Force of the Washita River.  The encounter between the 8th Cavalry and the Native Americans was brief and two Native Americans were killed and six wounded.

Dixon would receive the Medal of Honor for his actions in retrieving a wounded soldier during the fight, and going for help.  It'd later be revoked given as he was a civilian, but subsequently restored.  He'd go on to marry in the early 1890s and have seven children.  He made his home in those years near Adobe Walls, the site of his most famous battle.  He died in 1913.

Last edition:

Friday, September 11, 1874. The fate of the German family.

Labels: 1870s, 1874, Cheyenne, Indian Wars, Kansas, Native Americans, Red River War

Wednesday, September 9, 1874. The start of the Battle of Upper Washita.

The Battle of the Upper Washita River commenced on this day in 1874 when a supply train lead by Cpt. Wyllys Lyman was attacked by Comanches and Kiowas.   The battle would last for five days during which a scout was dispatched for relief.

Pvt. Thomas Kelly, Company H, 5th U.S. Infantry, was awarded the Medal of Honor.  His citation reads:

Gallantry in action.

Kelly was, predictably, Irish, having been born in May in 1836.  He must have been a career soldiers as he was almost 40 years old, and still a private, not unusual for the time.  He lived until 1919 and died at age 83, at Leavenworth, Kansas, which was likely his last duty station.  He married Rose Kelly at some point.

One of the Wild Geese.

Last edition.

Sunday, August 30, 1874. The return to The Girl I Left Behind me and the Battle of Red River.

Labels: 1870s, 1874, Battle of Red River, Camp Custer Michigan, cavalry, Ft. Abraham Lincoln, Infantry, Red River War, Texas, The Black Hills Expedition

Saturday, June 27, 1874. The Second Battle of Adobe Walls

On this day, 28 buffalo hunters at the abandoned trading post of Adobe Walls, Texas, fought the Comanche, who numbered around 700.  Fortified behind the post's walls, and armed with powerful large caliber buffalo hunting rifles, they successfully defended their party, with buffalo hunter Billy Dixon killing an Indian combatant at the amazing range of 1,538 yards.   Four of the hunters were killed in the engagement, and approximately 30 Comanche.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, June 14, 1874. Calling for an Indian War.

Labels: 1870s, 1874, Indian Wars, North Dakota, The Press, War