Soldier Springs

Battle of Soldier Springs was 120 years ago today

By CECIL CHESSER Special to the Times

An event in Oklahoma history, known as the Battle of Soldier Springs, occurred 120 years ago this Christmas Day.

The battle, which took place a few miles northeast of Blair was a mixture of many strange events and circumstances and resulted in a very limited loss of life on either side of the adversaries involved.

When Gen. George Custer led his Seventh Calvary against the Indians of Chief Black Kettle in the Battle of the Washita some 90 miles north of the present city of Altus on a frozen morning of Nov. 27,1868; most of the Cheyenne Indians managed to escape and a large number of them made their way southward toward the Wichita Mountains.

After the Battle of the Washita had ended, Custer and his troops retired to Camp Supply, near the panhandle of Oklahoma. Col. Major A.W. Evans, stationed at Fort Bascom, New Mexico was ordered to bring six companies of the Third Cavalry, one company of the 32nd Infantry and a battery of mountain howitzers to Custer's battle site, pick up the trail of the fleeing Indians and pursue them to their destination.

Col. Evans, in keeping with his instructions, marched his soldiers through the snow and bitter cold to the place where they discovered the Indians trail leading south.

On Christmas Eve, 1868, Evans rounded Bird Mountain, north of the present town of Blair and made a dry camp on the open prairie where they spent a most uncomfortable and cheerless night.

Christmas Day did not offer a break in the weather. It was still snowing and patches of snow lay on the ground. Many of the trooper's horses were dying of exhaustion, lack of food or the bitter cold and were in no condition to be ridden any farther.

The trail of the fleeing Indians was lost, and it was thought they were still in the area. Because of these circumstances, Col. Evans decided to move his soldiers to the area of the old campsite of the Wichita Indians at Devil's Canyon, which would permit the men and horses to rest in the shelter of the surrounding mountains until the storm was over.

On the way to the new campsite, Mexican scouts reported that they had seen and conversed with two Indians. Others had been seen riding in the distance. Col. Evans sent a column of soldiers under Capt. Tarlton to find the Indians and to determine their intentions. They had ridden less than two miles southeast when they discovered the winter camp of the Noconee Comanche’s, consisting of over sixty lodges.

These Indians had not been involved in the Battle of the Washita but had been guilty of raiding Texas communities during the summering fall. Horseback, the principal chief, was absent and the camp was left in charge of a war chief named Arrow Point who rode west to meet the soldiers, to try to turn them back from the camp.

The Comanche’s charged Tarlton and his men with lances, rifles, and pistols. The issue was somewhat in doubt until Tarlton was joined by other members of the troop and they pushed the Indians back toward the village. The mountain howitzers were fired in the direction of the village to erupt in wild confusion.

Chief Arrow Point was struck in the mouth by a bullet early in the battle and later bled to death. He was the only Indian to die in the entire battle.

The Indian's horses were in much better condition than those of the soldiers so they managed to ride just out of range of the soldier's guns. Some of the Indians took shelter in the giant granite boulders that lay near the base of the mountain, where they maintained a distinct advantage over the advancing troops.

Woman's Heart, a Kiowa Chief who was camped nearby, heard the sound of battle and led his warriors into the fight. Col. Evans gave orders for his men to fall back to the site of the Comanche village where they spent the late afternoon and evening destroying and burning the camp. This order resulted in the death of the only soldier killed during the battle. One of the young men was so engrossed with the antics of the Indians; he did not hear the order to withdraw until all the men had left the area.

. The; young man panicked and began running toward the camp but before he arrived he was ridden down by young Kiowa warriors, anxious to count "coup" and was slain. He was buried near Soldier Springs.

In addition to destroying the Comanche camp, Evans also dumped the Indians entire winter supply of dried buffalo meat into the spring, which received the name of "Dried-Beef Pond.

The site of Soldier Spring has been covered by a large farm pond but "Dried-Beef Pond with its lily pads has remained unchanged throughout the twelve decades since the battle occurred.