Wagon Box Fight 155 Year Anniversary Presentation to be Held

On August 2nd, at 10 a.m., there will be a presentation, “They Surrounded the White Tents” to celebrate 155-year anniversary of the Wagon Box Fight. Presentations will be by Donovin Sprague, Miniconjou Lakota Historian and Author, and Bob Wilson & Kearny’s Frontier Regulars.

The presentations will be held at the Wagon Box Fight Historic Site, on Wagon Box Road, Story.

The Wagon Box Fight, which occurred on August 2, 1867, on an open field between Fort Phil Kearny and the present day town of Story, was the last major battle between the U.S. Army and Lakota warriors along the Bozeman Trail. Twenty-six soldiers and six civilians were attacked by several hundred Sioux warriors when the party was sent out from the fort to cut wood.

Although greatly out-numbered by the Sioux, the men held off the attack for several hours, until help arrived from the Fort.

A stone monument was erected in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps at the site of the Wagon Box Fight, about three miles northwest of Fort Phil Kearny.

Another upcoming event at the Fort

On August 7, at 1 p.m. and again at 2 p.m., there will be a presentation titled, What to Wear: 1860s Women’s Clothing. Discover all the articles of clothing women wore in the 1860s in this 30 minute program. It will be held at the log cabin near the stockade entrance. Site admission applies.