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Bed, Breakfast & Battlefield Category: Articles & Tips Updated: Feb 20, 2009

Wyoming Bed, Breakfast & Battlefield Road Trip Category: Wyoming Road Trips Updated: Apr 27, 2009 View on map

Site Facilities
Access Interstate 90 (exit 44); U.S. Highway 87. Located 22 miles north of Buffalo 20 miles south of Sheridan. Open year-round, weather permitting. Historic Site operates from sunrise to sunset. No camping or other facilities available.

Brief History
WAGON BOX FIGHT - August 2, 1867

The Wagon Box Fight was one of the key skirmishes in the Indian Wars that raged along the Bozeman Trail. In August 1867, several months after their triumph over troops commanded by Captain William Fetterman, Sioux Indian forces attacked woodcutters and soldiers camped five miles from Fort Phil Kearny. During initial stages of the battle, 26 soldiers and 6 civilians took refuge inside an oval of wagon boxes used as a stockade corral. Armed with brand new breechloading rifles, the troops held off the intense attacks until a relief force arrived, sustaining only three fatalities.

This monument is erected to perpetuate the memory of one of the famous battles of history. It is dedicated to the courage and bravery of 28 soldiers in Company C, 27th United States Infantry, and four civilians, who held their improvised fort made of 14 ordinary wagon-boxes against three thousand Sioux warriors under the leadership of Red Cloud for a period of six or seven hours under continuous fire. The number of indians killed has been variously estimated from three hundred to eleven hundred. The following participated in the engagement:

• Capt. Jas. Powell
• 1Lt John C. Jenness
• 1st Sgt. John M. Hoover
• Corp. Max Littman
• 1st Sgt. John Mc Query
• Corp. Francis Robertson
• PRIVATES:  Wm. A. Baker, James Condon, Mark Hadder, Ashton P. Barton, Thomas Doybe, Phillip C. Jones, Wm. Black Nodan, Deming Freeland Phillips,  Chas. Brooks, John Grady, John D. Somers,  Alexander Brown, John M. Garrett,  Chas. D. Stevens, Denis Brown, Henry Gross, Juluis Strache, John B Buzzard,  Samuel Gibson,
• 4 Unknown Civilians Killed
• Frederick Odaus, Henry Haggarty.

Erected April 1936 by the U.S. Civilian Conservation Corps under the direction of the Sheridan Chamber of Commerce.