The 1855 massacre where US soldiers fired into caves full of Lakota mothers and babies

General Harney’s Bloody Revenge for a Stolen Cow

Ash Hollow State Historical Park sits where America turned a stolen cow into a massacre. In 1854, a hungry Lakota warrior killed a wandering Mormon cow near Fort Laramie.

When talks over $25 compensation failed, young Lieutenant Grattan led soldiers to make an arrest. The confrontation killed Grattan and his men, but President Pierce wanted revenge.

General William Harney got orders to “whip the Indians.”

On September 3, 1855, his 600 soldiers surrounded Chief Little Thunder’s peaceful village at Blue Water Creek. Eighty-six Lakota died in the attack, mostly women and children hiding in caves.

The story of how one cow sparked this tragedy unfolds at the park’s visitor center and battlefield overlook.

A Wandering Cow Sparked a Bloody Chain of Events

In August 1854, a sick cow from a Mormon wagon train fell behind near Fort Laramie.

The hungry animal wandered into Chief Conquering Bear’s Brulé Lakota camp where Miniconjou warrior High Forehead killed it for food.

Large camps of Miniconjou, Brulé and Oglala Sioux waited nearby for their promised government supplies. With rations late, people grew hungry.

The Mormon owner told Army officers at Fort Laramie his cow was stolen and wanted $25. He turned down Chief Conquering Bear’s offer of any horse from his 60-head herd.

Young Lieutenant’s Arrogance Led to Bloodshed

On August 19, 1854, Second Lieutenant John Grattan took 29 soldiers and a drunk interpreter named Auguste to arrest High Forehead. At just 24, the fresh West Point graduate openly looked down on Lakota fighting skills.

Fort Laramie commanders later said Grattan “left this post with a desire to have a fight with the Indians. ” Auguste barely spoke broken Dakota and kept insulting the Sioux while failing to translate properly.

When talks failed and Grattan pushed the chief to hand over High Forehead, a soldier shot Chief Conquering Bear in the back, giving him a deadly wound.

Lakota Warriors Quickly Avenged Their Chief

After seeing Conquering Bear shot, angry Sichangu Lakota warriors led by Spotted Tail killed Grattan, 11 of his men, and the interpreter within minutes.

The other 18 soldiers tried to reach some rocks for cover but rising war chief Red Cloud and his warriors cut them off and killed them all. Every soldier died except one who lived briefly but later died of wounds.

Conquering Bear was the only Lakota killed in the fight.

The angry warriors spent the night planning revenge before heading toward Fort Laramie, then changing their minds.

President Pierce Wanted Indian Blood

President Franklin Pierce vowed to punish the Lakota for what newspapers called the “Grattan Massacre. ” His Secretary of War Jefferson Davis picked General William Harney to lead a punishing campaign against the Sioux.

During a White House meeting, Pierce gave Harney simple orders: “Whip the Indians for us.”

Harney wanted “to attack any body of hostile Indians” and thought separating Native Americans from their families “would be obliged to surrender themselves or risk starving.”

The Army planned this revenge to punish the Lakota for the Grattan fight and later raids.

Harney’s Soldiers Set Out for Revenge

In August 1855, General Harney led 600 soldiers with new long-range Sharps rifles from a frontier fort. Harney told a fur trapper as he left, “By God I am for battle.No peace! ”

By September 2, his troops camped along the North Platte near Ash Hollow, a popular Oregon Trail rest stop.

Harney learned that Chief Little Thunder, who replaced Conquering Bear after his death, camped about six miles north by Blue Water Creek with roughly 200 Sicangu Lakota.

The general quickly began planning his attack on the unsuspecting village.

The Military Prepared a Deadly Trap

Before sunrise on September 3, Harney sent Lieutenant Colonel Cooke and his cavalry to circle around the village and block escape routes to the north.

The rest of Harney’s men would attack from the south, driving the Lakota villagers toward the waiting mounted soldiers in a pincer move.

A smaller Oglala Lakota camp three miles north spotted the hidden cavalry, but too late to warn Chief Little Thunder’s people.

The Brulé families felt safe after a good buffalo hunt that late summer and didn’t know soldiers were closing in around them.

Chief Little Thunder Tried to Prevent Violence

Just after sunrise, Harney talked with Chief Little Thunder while his mounted troops finished circling unnoticed to the north.

Harney demanded that Little Thunder surrender the men who fought in the Grattan battle, but the chief refused. Little Thunder walked toward the soldiers holding an umbrella as a white flag, trying to stop bloodshed.

When some Sioux spotted Cooke’s flanking soldiers, Harney ended the talk and ordered his infantry to attack the Sioux camp right away. The peaceful talk was just a trick to finish the trap.

Soldiers Fired on Women and Children Hiding in Caves

The infantry opened fire with their new long-range rifles, forcing the Lakota to run toward the mounted soldiers waiting to the north.

Many Sioux women and children hid in caves along Blue Water Creek, but Harney told his men to fire into these shelters, killing many non-fighters.

This marked the first time in the Northern Plains Indian wars that the military attacked a camp full of families. Captain Henry Heth put his men to block the main escape route as scared people tried to flee the killing.

Cavalry Hunted Down Fleeing Families

Some warriors broke through Heth’s men but faced quick chase by cavalry with Heth leading the pursuit.

The soldiers fought a running battle for about five miles that lasted several hours as they hunted down fleeing families.

Heth rode so far ahead of his men that many thought he died, with newspapers across America reporting his death.

The mounted soldiers “caused terrible casualties” as Lakota families got caught between infantry pushing them north and cavalry blocking their escape. Few managed to get away from the deadly crossfire.

Most Victims Were Women and Children

The one-sided battle left 86 Sioux dead, with women and children making up nearly half the fatalities. Soldiers captured 70 prisoners, mostly women and children, while they looted and burned the tipis.

Only four American soldiers died in the attack. The New York Times called it “simply a massacre” and reported “The sad butcheries of Indians by Harney’s command on the Plains have stirred the most painful feelings.”

The brutal attack shocked many Americans who read about it in newspapers across the country.

Harney Earned His Brutal Nickname

The Sioux gave Harney several names after the massacre: “The Butcher,” “Woman Killer,” “Mad Bear,” “the Hornet,” and “the Big Chief Who Swears.”

Harney reportedly took pride in his actions, saying “I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God’s heaven to kill Indians. Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice.”

Lieutenant Gouverneur Warren, the expedition’s mapmaker, gathered Lakota belongings from weapons to buffalo robes as war trophies and later gave them to the Smithsonian.

This first military campaign against the Lakota kept the Overland Trail open but only delayed a larger war between the two nations until 1863-64.

Visiting Ash Hollow State Historical Park

Ash Hollow State Historical Park is 3 miles southeast of Lewellen on U. S.

Highway 26, where you can learn about General Harney’s 1855 attack that killed 86 Lakota people over a stolen cow dispute. The visitor center runs May through October, 10am to 4pm Thursday to Monday.

Admission costs $4 for adults and $1 for kids 3-12, plus you need a Nebraska state park permit. The actual Blue Water battlefield is 6 miles northwest of the park.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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