The Battle of Turkey Springs (13–14 September 1878) was the last battle between Native Americans (Indians) and the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in the state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. In the

Northern Cheyenne Exodus The Northern Cheyenne Exodus, also known as Dull Knife's Raid, the Cheyenne War, or the Cheyenne Campaign, was the attempt of the Northern Cheyenne to return to the north, after being placed on the Southern Cheyenne reservation in the Indian Terr ...

, 353

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

Indians, fleeing their reservation in

in an attempt to return to their homeland in the northern

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

, fought a unit of the

, killing three soldiers. After the battle the Cheyenne continued northward skirmishing with the army along the way. Some were successful in reaching their relatives in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. Others were captured or killed near Camp Robinson,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Background

In the 1830s the Cheyenne tribe split into two groups: the Northern Cheyenne and the Southern Cheyenne. The

Dull Knife Morning Star (Cheyenne: ''Vóóhéhéve''; also known by his Lakota Sioux name ''Tȟamílapȟéšni'' or its translation, Dull Knife) (1810–1883) was a great chief of the Northern Cheyenne people and headchief of the ''Notameohmésêhese'' ("N ...

and

Little Wolf Little Wolf (''Cheyenne'': ''Ó'kôhómôxháahketa'', sometimes transcribed ''Ohcumgache'' or ''Ohkomhakit'', more correctly translated Little Coyote, 18201904) was a Northern Só'taeo'o Chief and Sweet Medicine Chief of the Northern Cheyenne. ...

bands of the Northern Cheyenne were defeated by the U.S. Cavalry in the

Dull Knife Fight The Dull Knife Fight, or the Battle on the Red Fork, part of the Great Sioux War of 1876, was a battle that was fought on November 25, 1876, in present-day Johnson County, Wyoming between soldiers and scouts of the United States Army and warrio ...

in November 1876. Chiefs Dull Knife (also known as Morning Star) and Little Wolf and their followers subsequently surrendered to the U.S. at Camp Robinson, Nebraska. From May to August 1877, the Northern Cheyenne were escorted by soldiers south to the Southern Cheyenne reservation in Oklahoma. Nine-hundred and thirty seven Cheyenne arrived at the reservation, headquartered about west of present-day

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

near Fort Reno. Conditions were difficult with shortages of food and outbreaks of measles and malaria. Dull Knife and Little Wolf pleaded to be allowed to return to the northern plains but were turned down. In September 1878, the two leaders and 350 of their followers fled the reservation with the intent of journeying to rejoin other groups of Northern Cheyenne who resided mostly in

. Ninety-two of those fleeing the reservation were warriors; the remainder were women, children, and elderly. On 10 September, a veteran soldier, Captain Joseph Rendlebrock, with 85 officers and men and two

Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...

scouts departed Fort Reno with the objective of catching and capturing the fleeing Cheyenne. Rendlebrock reported that he was on the trail of the Cheyenne, but that they were well-mounted and that he hoped to catch them near the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

near

Dodge City Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town ...

. Instead, he found the Cheyenne waiting for him at a waterhole called Turkey Springs in hilly country near the border of Oklahoma and Kansas. The Cheyenne had killed two

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

s nearby.

The battle

On September 13, following the trail of the Cheyenne, Captain Rendlebrock saw Cheyenne warriors on a hilltop. He formed a skirmish line with his soldiers and sent an Arapaho scout named "Chalk" or "Ghost Man" to talk to Dull Knife and Little Wolf. Chalk conveyed the message that the Cheyenne must return to the reservation. The Cheyenne leaders declined to return and warriors began moving around the flanks of the soldiers. The soldiers opened fire and the Cheyenne responded in kind, although the firing was sparse as the Cheyenne preserved their limited ammunition. Desultory fighting continued all day with two soldiers killed and three wounded. After dark, desperate for water, seven soldiers attempted and failed to gain access to the water in the springs. By the next morning the Cheyenne had completely surrounded the soldiers and Rendlebrock ordered a retreat through ravines with Cheyenne firing down at the soldiers. Another soldier was killed during the retreat. Rendlebrock retreated about to the Cimarron River. The Cheyenne suffered five wounded. The next day they divided themselves into several different groups to confuse pursuers attempting to track them and continued their trek northward. Rendelbrock was later

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

ed for the disorderly retreat.

Aftermath

The Cheyenne continued their flight northward, fighting and winning several skirmishes with the U.S. Army, including the

Battle of Punished Woman's Fork The Battle of Punished Woman's Fork (27 September 1878), also called Battle Canyon, was the last battle between Native Americans (Indians) and the United States Army in the state of Kansas. In the Northern Cheyenne Exodus, 353 Cheyenne, includin ...

, and killing seven cowboys in southern Kansas. A total of 1,300 soldiers and a few civilians took to the field in the attempt to capture them. In Nebraska, the Cheyenne split into two groups with Little Wolf taking one-half with him and successfully joining the Northern Cheyenne in Montana. Dull Knife with the other half attempted to join the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

, but were captured and imprisoned at Camp Robinson, Nebraska. In January 1879, in bitterly cold weather, in the

Fort Robinson breakout The Fort Robinson breakout or Fort Robinson massacre was the attempted escape of Cheyenne captives from the U.S. army during the winter of 1878-1879 at Fort Robinson in northwestern Nebraska. In 1877, the Cheyenne had been forced to relocate fr ...

, 149 Cheyenne escaped from Camp Robinson and fled westward. They were pursued by soldiers and nearly all of them were either killed or captured. The survivors of the Northern Cheyenne Exodus were allowed to remain in their homeland on the northern plains.

References

{{reflist, 2 Cheyenne Forced migrations of Native Americans in the United States Native American history of Oklahoma Battles involving the Cheyenne Conflicts in 1878 Woods County, Oklahoma