Battle of Punished Woman's Fork

Photo by Mickey Shannon (https://www.mickeyshannon.com/photo/battle-canyon-monument-milky-way/)


Travel to the place where the last Indian battle in Kansas was fought. Punished Woman's Fork is approximately one-mile South of Lake Scott State Park along Highway 95. It is a fork off of the Ladder Creek that now forms Historic Lake Scott. A monument overlooks the cave, canyon, and bluffs where the Northern Cheyenne hid, waiting to ambush the United States Cavalry.

During the evening of September 9, 1878, Little Wolf and Dull Knife led the Northern Cheyenne from their camp. Frontier military were dispatched to return the fleeing Cheyenne. Lieutenant Colonel William H. Lewis eventually pursued them as commander of the Nineteenth Infantry from Fort Dodge, Kansas. After camping near the Dry Lake area in present-day southeastern Scott County, the pursuing soldiers advanced toward Ladder Creek. The Cheyenne Indians (300 men, women, and children) decoyed 250 soldiers and one excited warrior released a shot. This was the start of the last battle between the U.S. Army and the Native Americans in the state of Kansas. During this battle Colonel Lewis was hit in the leg. Lewis bled to death while being taken to Fort Wallace. He was the last army officer in killed in military action in Kansas. After the battle, the Northern Cheyenne fled during the night.

This area has been designated a State and National Historic Site.

 

punished womans fork sunrise mickey shannon

 Photo by Mickey Shannon (www.mickeyshannon.com)

 

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