Washita Massacre

Washita Massacre
Name	Washita Massacre
Date	November 27, 1868
Location	Near present-day Cheyenne, Oklahoma; Washita River
Type	Surprise attack on encampment
Participants	George Armstrong Custer, 7th Cavalry Regiment (United States), Cheyenne people, Black Kettle
Outcome	Deaths and capture of Southern Cheyenne; destruction of village

Washita Massacre is the common name for the November 27, 1868 attack by the 7th Cavalry Regiment (United States) under George Armstrong Custer on a Southern Cheyenne people encampment led by Chief Black Kettle along the Washita River in what is now Oklahoma. The action occurred during the post‑Civil War Indian Wars period and intersected with treaties such as the Medicine Lodge Treaty and campaigns associated with Philip Sheridan's directives. Contemporary reports and later histories dispute whether the event was a legitimate military engagement or a punitive massacre.

Background

Tensions in the 1860s involved the aftermath of the American Civil War, westward expansion tied to the Homestead Act, and conflicts over Santa Fe Trail and Bozeman Trail corridors. Federal Indian policy following the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) and the Medicine Lodge Treaty attempted to confine Plains nations, leading to clashes between the United States Army and bands of Cheyenne people, Arapaho, Sioux (Dakota) and allied groups. Figures including Philip Sheridan, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Ulysses S. Grant shaped military strategy while Native leaders such as Black Kettle, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Spotted Tail negotiated, resisted, or sought peace. Military units like the 7th Cavalry Regiment (United States), the 3rd Cavalry Regiment (United States), and frontier posts including Fort Sill and Fort Cobb operated in contested territory near the Red River and Arkansas River watersheds.

Lead-up and Winter Campaign

In autumn 1868, George Armstrong Custer led a winter campaign aligned with directives from commanders such as Philip Sheridan and coordinated with columns under officers like Nathaniel Lyon and Alfred Sully in earlier Plains operations. Custer advanced from Fort Sill and Camp Supply (Oklahoma) pursuing bands reported responsible for raids on settlers, trading posts on the Santa Fe Trail, and wagon trains near Liberal, Kansas and Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Intelligence came from Indian scouts including John "No Heart" Smith and reports by scouts tied to officers like William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody in later recollections; civilian correspondents from newspapers such as the New York Herald and the St. Louis Daily Missouri Republican increased public scrutiny. Winter campaigns had precedents in operations by Winfield Scott Hancock and Andrew A. Humphreys during the Red River War context, raising questions about logistics, supplies crossing the Plains Indians Wars theater, and the treatment of noncombatants.

The Attack on Black Kettle's Village (November 27, 1868)

Custer's detachment reached a village on the Washita River where Chief Black Kettle's band was encamped, in proximity to the Kiowa people and Southern Cheyenne alliances. The cavalry executed a dawn surprise attack, with troops from the 7th Cavalry Regiment (United States) conducting mounted charges, dismounted skirmishes, and seizure of horses and lodges. Participants and witnesses included officers such as Thomas Custer, Frederick Benteen (whose column had been nearby in related operations), and noncommissioned officers recorded in unit reports. Native survivors and observers later recounted the presence of women, children, and elders in the village, while Army dispatches claimed engagement with hostile warriors. The action occurred amid contemporaneous operations like the Battle of Beecher Island and in the wake of raids tied to leaders such as Roman Nose and Dull Knife.

Casualties and Immediate Aftermath

Estimates of casualties varied widely in period reports submitted to commanders including Philip Sheridan and Ulysses S. Grant. Army counts recorded killed warriors and captured noncombatants and livestock, with specific names recorded such as Chief Black Kettle himself among the dead. Native accounts and later ethnographers including George Bird Grinnell and Francis La Flesche documented fatalities among women and children and the destruction of lodges, drying meat, and winter supplies. Surviving Cheyenne dispersed to allied camps and some sought refuge with leaders such as Sitting Bull and Red Cloud, while Army reports emphasized the disruption of raiding capabilities. News coverage in papers like the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune provoked political debate in the United States Congress and inquiries by Indian agents such as Edward Wynkoop.

Controversy and Historical Interpretations

Debates have centered on whether the action qualified as a legitimate military engagement or a massacre, engaging historians such as Edmunds, Franklin B., Stanley N. K., Gary Owens and public intellectuals including Bernard DeVoto. Interpretations reference documents from the National Archives and memoirs by participants like George Armstrong Custer's officers, as well as oral histories preserved by tribal historians of the Cheyenne and Arapaho. Scholars have compared the event to other encounters such as the Sand Creek Massacre and campaigns led by Nelson A. Miles to evaluate rules of engagement, the role of noncombatant casualties, and the influence of expansionist policies advocated by politicians like Senator William G. Brownlow and Representative Thaddeus Stevens. Legal and moral assessments link the incident to treaty violations, federal Indian policy debates during the Grant administration, and later reconciliation efforts spearheaded by institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Legacy and Commemoration

The site near modern Cheyenne, Oklahoma and the Washita battlefield has been the focus of memorialization, archaeological investigation by teams from universities such as University of Oklahoma and preservation efforts by the National Park Service which established the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site. Commemorations involve tribal nations including the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, academic conferences hosted by institutions like Oklahoma State University, and public history projects funded by foundations such as the Oklahoma Historical Society. The event figures in popular culture depictions in works like the novelizations by Larry McMurtry and cinematic treatments referencing post‑Civil War Plains conflicts, and it remains central to discussions in museums such as the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and curricula at institutions including Harvard University and University of Colorado Boulder that study the American West.

Category:Battles of the Indian Wars Category:1868 in the United States