The 1868 Attack on Sleeping Cheyennes, Its Dark Legacy & the Historic Site That Remembers

Washita Battlefield National Historic Site

On a frozen November morning in 1868, the 7th Cavalry rode into history at the Washita River. What started as a peaceful Cheyenne winter camp became the site of a brutal surprise attack that changed the Plains Wars forever.

Here’s what happened at this National Historic Site you can explore today.

Black Kettle, The Peace Chief

Black Kettle led the Southern Cheyenne as a peace chief in the mid-1800s. His band moved to the eastern Colorado plains in the 1830s, becoming known as the Southern Cheyenne.

He signed the Fort Laramie Treaty in 1851, the first of many peace agreements with the U.S. government. In 1864, he survived the Sand Creek Massacre where Colorado militia killed over 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho, including many women and children.

Despite this trauma, Black Kettle continued seeking peace. He signed more treaties at Little Arkansas in 1865 and Medicine Lodge in 1867.

Tensions Lead to Winter Campaign

By 1868, conflict between settlers and tribes grew as white expansion pushed into tribal hunting grounds. Newcomers disrupted buffalo herds that tribes needed to survive. That summer, war parties from several tribes raided settlements in Kansas, Colorado, and Texas.

The U.S. had created Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) to separate tribes from settlers, but many Plains people still hunted beyond these boundaries. General Philip Sheridan, frustrated with failed military tactics, created a new winter campaign strategy.

He knew winter was when tribes stayed in fixed camps with weakened horses, making them easier targets.

Black Kettle Seeks Protection

On November 20, 1868, Black Kettle and Arapaho Chief Big Mouth traveled to Fort Cobb through winter conditions. They asked General William Hazen for safety for their people.

Black Kettle explained that his band wanted peace and asked to move closer to the fort. This would protect them from both hostile soldiers and young warriors who ignored his peaceful advice.

Hazen refused, saying only General Sheridan or Colonel Custer could grant such protection. With no options left, the chiefs returned to their Washita River camps, unaware that soldiers were already heading their way.

Custer’s March to the Washita

On November 23, 1868, Custer left Camp Supply with 800 men of the 7th Cavalry. They pushed through a foot of snow in bitter cold. Their mission was to find and punish tribes believed responsible for frontier raids.

On November 26, Osage scouts found fresh tracks in the snow from a war party of about 150 warriors returning to their winter camps. Custer followed this trail, leaving his supply wagons behind.

By nightfall, his troops reached high ground overlooking Black Kettle’s sleeping village along the Washita River.

Village on the Eve of Attack

Black Kettle’s village had 51 lodges housing about 250 people in a bend of the Washita River. Most fighting-age men were away, leaving mainly older men, women, and children in camp.

Black Kettle had told General Hazen earlier that he struggled to control his young warriors: “I have always done my best to keep my young men quiet, but some will not listen.”

Black Kettle planned to move his band downstream to join larger Cheyenne camps for safety. The cold weather and his recent peace efforts had delayed this move, leaving his village isolated and vulnerable.

The Dawn Attack

Before dawn on November 27, Custer split his force into four groups to attack the village from all sides at daybreak. The regimental band played “Garry Owen” as the signal to charge.

A Cheyenne named Double Wolf woke first and fired his gun to warn others before being killed. Black Kettle raised both a white flag and American flag above his lodge as he had been advised to do, but soldiers ignored these peace signals.

The surprise attack was complete. Warriors rushed from their lodges to find cover while women and children fled toward the river and hills.

Death of a Peace Chief

During the chaos, Black Kettle and his wife Medicine Woman Later mounted a single horse. They tried to escape across the Washita River as gunfire erupted around them. Soldiers shot them both in the back as they fled.

They died together at the river crossing, falling from their horse into the cold water. This violent death came just four years after Black Kettle had survived the Sand Creek Massacre.

Despite past violence against his people, he had never stopped seeking peace until his final moments. His death removed an important moderate voice from Plains Indian leadership.

Casualties and Captives

The number of Cheyenne killed at Washita caused immediate dispute. Custer claimed 103 warriors dead, but no actual count took place during battle. Cheyenne accounts and reports from Custer’s own scouts showed much lower numbers.

Modern historians estimate about 50 tribal members died, including women and children. Soldiers captured 53 women and children who became both hostages and human shields during the army’s retreat.

The 7th Cavalry lost 21 men killed and 13 wounded. Most soldier deaths came when Major Joel Elliott’s group was surrounded by warriors from nearby camps.

Destruction of the Village

Following orders to cripple tribal resistance, Custer’s men shot more than 800 horses and mules belonging to the Cheyenne. For Plains tribes, horses meant wealth, transportation, and survival.

Soldiers burned all 51 lodges along with winter food supplies, clothing, weapons, and tools. Fire destroyed both essential survival goods and irreplaceable cultural items. Complete village destruction left survivors without shelter or food during winter.

Custer ordered retreat when scouts reported large numbers of warriors coming from downstream camps. The 7th Cavalry withdrew toward Camp Supply with their captives, leaving only ashes where a community had stood.

A Turning Point in the Plains Wars

The Washita attack changed how the Plains Wars were fought. Before this, U.S. military campaigns happened mainly in warmer months when troops could move easily. Sheridan’s winter strategy took away the seasonal safety tribes had always counted on.

This showed the government would force Native peoples onto reservations regardless of weather or peace efforts. Custer’s village attack tactics became standard practice against Plains tribes, influencing later conflicts like the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre.

Military leaders celebrated Washita as a victory while ignoring civilian deaths. The battle made Custer famous as an “Indian fighter,” setting him on the path to Little Bighorn.

Visiting Washita Battlefield National Historic Site

You can visit Washita Battlefield National Historic Site at 18555 Highway 47A, Suite A, Cheyenne, OK 73628. The site is open daily from 8 AM to 4:30 PM year-round, with closures only on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

Admission is free. The visitor center offers a 27-minute film called “Destiny at Dawn” that provides background on the battle.

For the best experience, allow at least 90 minutes to walk the 1.5-mile self-guided trail through the battlefield.

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