Marker Name: The Flight of the Cheyennes
Marker Type: Roadside
Marker text:
THE FLIGHT OF THE CHEYENNES
After the Little Bighorn Battle in 1876, the US government forced most northern Cheyennes from the northern plains to a reservation in Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma. In September 1878 a group led by Chiefs Dull Knife and Little Wolf attempted to return to their homeland. Angry and embittered by their plight, they killed settlers and herders as they fled through Kansas.
The Cheyennes included 89 men, 112 women, and 134 children. Although some succeeded in reaching Montana, 149 were captured in northwest Nebraska. After learning they would be sent back to the reservation, the Cheyennes tried to escape. More than 60 were killed. Only a few of the original group ever returned to Indian Territory.
The Cheyennes' escape from Indian Territory while pursued by troops from three military jurisdictions was considered a remarkable feat. Sadly,it resulted in the deaths of 40 Kansas settlers and herders. Nineteen of the were killed here in Decatur County, and their graves formed the beginning of the cemetery located east of this marker. A monument stands there today, erected by the community in memory of its loss.
Marker Location: Decatur
Name of agency setting marker: Kansas State Historical Society
Year Marker Placed: Not listed
Official Marker Number: Not listed
Marker Web Address: Not listed
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