8/18/2023 0 Comments Near bsnes has diedTen men were indeed dead, but two were alive, though scalped and severely wounded. ![]() When the civilians and soldiers eventually went out to recover the bodies of their slain companions, they found the wagons plundered and 12 seemingly lifeless victims. Another freighter, armed with a bullwhip, kept the Kiowas at a distance until his small party could reach safety. With his smooth bore firearm, he accounted for the only Kiowa casualty and escorted a number of teamsters to the fort. Albert Gentry, a surviving teamster, was the only armed freighter. The soldiers at Fort Zarah witnessed the battle and attempted a rescue but were forced to turn back when they realized that a larger party of Kiowas was nearby. The teamsters had few firearms and no military escort, in spite of the fact that they were under military freighting contracts. July 18, 125 young Kiowa warriors attacked the 30 wagons that were then about one mile from Fort Zarah. A military escort had accompanied the teamsters to Council Grove but had then returned to Fort Leavenworth with assurances that the trail was safe because of recent treaties.Ī band of Kiowas had trouble with soldiers at Fort Larned on July 17 and they stole most of the fort's livestock and wounded a soldier. This fort was a small military outpost located near the Walnut Creek crossing of the Santa Fe Trail to protect wagon trains from attacks by Kiowas, Comanches, and Arapahos. ![]() On the night of July 17, 1864, 30 teamsters with 30 wagons were encamped about seven miles east of Fort Zarah. Steel arrow points, some embedded in human bones, proved that this was indeed a massacre but not a recent one. The remains of 10 adult males were discovered. Historical Society archeologists, suspecting that a different story was unfolding, searched 19th century archives and meticulously excavated the skeletons. News broadcasts suggested that an undiscovered mass murder had been revealed. The Barton County sheriff was called to the site and he confirmed that several skeletons were present. In April 1973, floodwaters of Walnut Creek, near Great Bend, exposed human bones in the creek bank.
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