Wagon Box Fight Anniversary Program

The Wagon Box Fight took place on August 2 of 1867, when twenty-six soldiers and six civilians were attacked by several hundred Sioux warriors when their party was sent out from Fort Phil Kearny to cut wood.

Each year on the date, the FPK/BTA (Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association) remembers the battle. This year Dave McKee, historian and President of FPK/BTA talked about the fight that day.

He said during the winter of 1866-67, the commander of the post, Col. Henry Carrington, and his command at the fort are still in shock after the Fetterman fight in December of 1866. On Jan. 18, Colonel Henry Wessells came from Fort Reno with reinforcements. Carrington leaves for his next assignment at Fort Casper. Although many people felt he left due to the Fetterman fight, he had asked for a transfer earlier and it just came through.

The Fort Phil Kearny Regulars gave a demonstration of the rifles, showing how much faster the new modified rifles were than the old Springfields. A soldier could get off two or three shots in the time it took for the others to load the muskets, which gave the army an advantage and surprised the Indian forces, who expected the older, slower guns.

McKee talked about many of the soldiers who were at the battle, and the officers that were in charge of the wood cutting train. There were six civilians, 24 soldiers, and two officers inside the corral. The Indians charged the corral and encountered the first volley, then quickly following the second volley. They re-formed and charged again, and the tribal fighters got really close but could not get into the corral.

A little before noon, the scouts on pilot knob let the soldiers at the fort know that the wood train was under duress. Soldiers came from the fort bringing the mountain howitzer, and the Indians retreated. Seven soldiers were killed and several wounded in the fight.

McKee added that after the Laramie treaty of 1868, when the forts CF Smith, Fort Phil Kearny and Fort Reno were abandoned, Little Wolf and his Cheyenne warriors came down and burned the fort.

McKee then turned the program over to Donovin Sprague, Miniconjou Lakota historian and author, who talked about his family and their part in the events.

He said the Hump at the Custer fight was Hump’s son, who was 26 years old at the time. His picture is in the museum at the Little Big Horn Battlefield. He said that no proven picture of Crazy Horse is known to exist.

Sprague said he is Lakota-Cheyenne, as many of his Lakota ancestors married Cheyenne wives. He said he had some books this year, one was “Lakota Society” by James Walker, talked about the winter count buckskins.

There are drawings of the winter count entries.

That reference came from the Wagon Box Fight, where the soldiers had white pup tents to sleep in.

One entry on the winter count was a mule, which meant they traded many mules during the Fort Laramie Treaty.

One drawing in 1869, was a drawing of an old woman who was killed by a tree, and it happened right in what is now Sheridan. The winter count keepers were the tribal historians.

Sprague also talked about how the warriors held a Sundance Ceremony near Lake DeSmet, he talked about how the Indians fought at the Wagon Box Fight.

He said too that many times the Indians would capture the horse herd, as horses were very valuable to the warrior and his tribe. He added that the Indians used short bows and could fire several arrows in quick session while riding bareback on the horse.

Although the day was hot, probably similar to the day in 1867, a good crowd attended the event.

The next event at Fort Phil Kearny will be a talk by American Indian Student Interpretive Ranger, Noah Tsotigh, on August 8, 2024, at 6:00 pm., at the interpretive center at the Fort.