All quiet on the Washita Battlefield

Ducks flying above the Washita River floodplain

In western Oklahoma lies the site of an ugly battle during the Indian Wars, one of the inciting battles for the U.S. Army’s more aggressive approach. Here a firefight lit up the scrubby forest of western Oklahoma and the floodplain along the Washita River. I visited on a cloudy, cool afternoon, two days shy of the battle's 154th anniversary. 

Although I expect the weather was significantly colder when Peace Chief Black Kettle and his people camped on a bend in the Washita River. 

Prayer cloths

 I tend to think of the Washita Battle as Lt. Col. George Custer becoming infamous, showing his trademark nastiness and recklessness, the traits that would earn him the ire of Plains Indian tribes and lead to the showdown at Little Bighorn in 1876. However, those traits would endear Custer to his superiors, leading to his continued role in the Indian Wars. 

A little more time, and the battle might have been avoided. Numerous tribes had moved to the Washita River for their winter camps, with as many as 6,000 Indians living on that stretch of river. Black Kettle led the westernmost settlement, making it most vulnerable. 

Peace chief or not, Black Kettle's people had been labeled hostiles. Black Kettle had returned to his camp in late November, hopeful for a peaceful solution but ready to move to a larger, safer camp the next day. He never got the chance to move or achieve peace. 

Before dawn on Nov. 27, the U.S. Army moved on the village. Black Kettle and his wife would receive fatal wounds trying to leave the camp on a pony during the firefight. Washita came four years after the Sand Creek Massacre, and the difference between the two lies in warriors killed Custer’s second-in-command, Major Joel Elliott and his 17 soldiers. What warriors the village had killed some of the soldiers only one of Custer’s men outside of Elliot’s command, but the battle and loss of Black Kettle forced the Cheyenne to accept reservation life. 

Along with killing dozens of Cheyenne, Custer's men burned the tipis and all the Cheyenne's possessions, killed their horses, used women and children as human shields, and took several dozen women and children prisoner. The killing of horses and destruction of resources was precipitated by fears of the other Indian camps joining the fight before the cavalry could retreat. 

 There is some debate over whether Washita qualifies as a battle or massacre (unlike the Sand Creek Massacre, when the cavalry struck after luring away the warriors). The Cheyenne warriors had been involved with skirmishes. 

But the cavalry tactics at Washita, which would be employed in other Indian War battles, led credence to the massacre claim. Of the captured women and children, the women were often turned into “comfort women” for Custer’s officers. 

 Custer also earned the dislike of one of his officers, Major Frederick Benteen. Benteen would later face criticism for not reacting swiftly enough during the Battle of Little Bighorn, since his command survived. 

 Today the Washita site is peaceful yet moving. Visitors cannot escape what happened here but can find some solace in the natural beauty where the tribes chose to camp. Red bluffs overlook the river, and the ground is covered in craggy trees, yucca and tall grasses. 

The land is silent except for birdsong and the occasion moo from a distant cow, a noise you would not have heard here in 1868. Prayer cloths fluttered on some of the trees. Small stones adorned tops of many signs. The trails were empty and almost spooky at times. Skeletal trees loomed over the prairie grasses, yucca and cacti.

There are those who would change how we approach history. History will always be inconvenient and uncomfortable. Otherwise, you don't learn anything. 

If we removed all the ugliness and inconvenience from history, we would not even have bones left to pick clean. We need places like the Washita Battlefield to remind us so.