There is a spot in Johnson
County Wyoming, at the foot of the western slope of the scenic Big
Horn Mountains, which deserves equal recognition with the battlefield
where Custer made his stand along the hills above the Little Big
Horn. It is the site of Fort Phil Kearney, about which, in 1866
and 1867, waged the fiercest and longest continued fighting between
the then powerful allied Sioux and Cheyenne nations and United States
soldiers.
Four days before Christmas, 1866, a lookout signaled that a wagon
train from the fort had been attacked. A relief party of 49 men,
under Captain W. J. Fetterman, was ordered out at once; however,
the Captain was told repeatedly, on no account, to pursue the Indians.
As soon as Fetterman's party was observed, the Indians attacking
the wagon train withdrew. Despites his orders, Fetterman must have
led his troops after the fleeing Indians into forbidden territory;
for, a surgeon who sought to join the party discovered a scene of
carniage. Fetterman and his command of 81 soldiers were wiped
out to the man.
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