Fetterman Fight Anniversary Talk

The Fetterman Fight, also called the Battle of a Hundred in the Hand, was fought on Dec. 21, 1866 near Fort Phil Kearny.  On Dec. 21, 2024, Fort Phil Kearny and the Bozeman Trail Association will host an annual talk and a tour of the battlefield.  

Beginning at 10 a.m., the first part of the program will be held at Kearney Community Hall and will be presented in two parts. Historian and former curator at Fort Phil Kearny, Sonny Reisch, will give his talk from the viewpoint of the soldiers who were at the fort.

Donovin Sprague who teaches Wyoming Tribal History, American Indian History & Culture at Sheridan College, will talk about the battle and his ancestor, Hump, who was one of the principal fighters on the Sioux side of the battle.

Although the Native American’s didn’t have a written language, their history has been passed down through stories and legends, and the artwork on the winter-count buckskins.

After their talks, beginning at approximately 11:30 a.m., attendees are invited to caravan to the Fetterman Battle Site, where there will be a period weapons demonstration by Kearny’s Frontier Regulars, followed by a guided tour at the Fetterman battle site by Spencer Morris.