12 Pony Kill Site, Washita Battlefield NHS, Cheyenne, OK
**Washita Battlefield National Historic Site** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000633, date listed 10/15/1966
NW of Cheyenne on U.S. 283
Cheyenne, OK (Roger Mills County)
A National Historic Landmark (www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/list-of-nh...).
The Battle of the Washita, November 27, 1868, was the first victory in a campaign destined to bring an end to the Plains Indian barrier. By demonstrating that U. S. troops would fight in the winter when the Indians preferred to be left alone, it dealt a heavy blow to Indian morale. It also demonstrated the practicality and effectiveness of winter campaigning in the long struggle against the hostile Plains Indians. (1)
Stop 12: Pony Kill Site: Part of Custer's orders from Gen. Philip Sheridan included depriving the Indians of their way of life and destroying their village. In this area, troopers of the Seventh U.S. Cavalry deprived the Cheyenne of one of their most valuable assets - their transportation. The Cheyenne first acquired horses in the mid-eighteenth century through contact with other Southern Plains tribes. With these mounts the Cheyenne became a powerful tribe and a force to be reckoned with on the Southern Plains. The ponies, as they were called, feared the soldiers because they smelled different from their owners. The soldiers forced captive Cheyenne women to corral the ponies and lead them into this area. At first, the troopers tried to slash the ponies' throats, but this was time-consuming and dangerous. Moving Behind spoke of wounded ponies moaning loudly like humans as they passed her hiding place. It was then decided to shoot the ponies. The troopers made quick work of them, and soon the bodies of approx 800 ponies and mules covered this areas. The horse bones remained on site until 1935, when they were taken away to be ground into fertilizer. (from local trail pamphlet)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...
12 Pony Kill Site, Washita Battlefield NHS, Cheyenne, OK
**Washita Battlefield National Historic Site** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000633, date listed 10/15/1966
NW of Cheyenne on U.S. 283
Cheyenne, OK (Roger Mills County)
A National Historic Landmark (www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/list-of-nh...).
The Battle of the Washita, November 27, 1868, was the first victory in a campaign destined to bring an end to the Plains Indian barrier. By demonstrating that U. S. troops would fight in the winter when the Indians preferred to be left alone, it dealt a heavy blow to Indian morale. It also demonstrated the practicality and effectiveness of winter campaigning in the long struggle against the hostile Plains Indians. (1)
Stop 12: Pony Kill Site: Part of Custer's orders from Gen. Philip Sheridan included depriving the Indians of their way of life and destroying their village. In this area, troopers of the Seventh U.S. Cavalry deprived the Cheyenne of one of their most valuable assets - their transportation. The Cheyenne first acquired horses in the mid-eighteenth century through contact with other Southern Plains tribes. With these mounts the Cheyenne became a powerful tribe and a force to be reckoned with on the Southern Plains. The ponies, as they were called, feared the soldiers because they smelled different from their owners. The soldiers forced captive Cheyenne women to corral the ponies and lead them into this area. At first, the troopers tried to slash the ponies' throats, but this was time-consuming and dangerous. Moving Behind spoke of wounded ponies moaning loudly like humans as they passed her hiding place. It was then decided to shoot the ponies. The troopers made quick work of them, and soon the bodies of approx 800 ponies and mules covered this areas. The horse bones remained on site until 1935, when they were taken away to be ground into fertilizer. (from local trail pamphlet)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...