Wagon Box Fight in Wyoming 1867

A detail of men from Fort Phil Kearney in northern Wyoming was sent with Captain James Powell (fl. 1860s) to cut firewood on Big Piney Creek in order to build up the fort's supply for the coming winter. The captain knew that Red Cloud (1822-1909) and his Sioux warriors were on the warpath, so he removed the wheels from his wagons and turned them on edge to make a miniature fort around his encampment. On August 2, 1867, about 1,500 Indians led by Red Cloud and Crazy Horse (1849?-77) swooped down a hill and attacked the detail outside the camp, stampeding the mules and horses; in the confusion the axemen and guards managed to flee to either Fort Phil Kearney or Powell's wagon-box fort. Armed with new breech-loading rifles, Powell and 32 others fired repeatedly on the attacking Indians, whose many charges were stopped by a blistering rain of bullets. The fight lasted throughout the day until a relief force from Fort Kearney arrived. The superior firepower of Powell's men had taken the lives of an estimated 1,000 Indians; of the 33 marksment, two were killed and two wounded.

References

Dictionary of Wars, 533.

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