Washita Battlefield National Historic Site
Driving from Missouri to Oklahoma | Camping at Barber Lake in Kansas | Visiting Washita Battlefield NHS | December 2024
On our third day of our road trip to the Southwest, we started with driving on some Missouri county roads South in order to enter our last county in this row, then made our way East on US-160. Along the way, we drove through Lamar, MO, which is one of the places where we broke down in our first truck — somehow that was 10 years ago now?! I’m happy to report we had no similar incidents today, we just drove through town and pointed out the things we recalled from that fateful day. The only hotel in town, which happened to be dog friendly and had a room for us, the Sonic across the street where Charlotte learned that Sonic is her favorite restaurant.
Today, our goal was to drive through a few more counties in Southern Kansas and camp at one of their county lakes. Since we had visited the most exciting attraction in the area last year (at least to us — the Little House on the Prairie), we didn’t have any plans to stop, just to make it as far West as we could. We ended up driving all the way to Medicine Lodge, KS, where we stayed at Barber Lake. This spot had several designated campsites around the lake, so we found one that was out of the way and took Charlie for a long walk. It was a beautiful night at nearly 60 degrees, so Curtis took the opportunity to set up our new investment for the van: a bug net for our sliding door. We had thought about it for a long time, and finally took advantage of a Black Friday sale to get one from BugWall. It has a smooth magnetic opening, and so far we’ve really enjoyed it! It’s certainly an improvement from what we had been doing, which is trying to fasten loose screens that had a tendency to fall down at least once a week.
The next day, we continued the drive heading Southwest into Oklahoma, briefly East to clinch another new county, then back on the road heading South. Today would be another long drive, but at least this time we had a place in mind to break up the drive: Washita Battlefield National Historic Site.
Curtis: Washita is very similar to Sand Creek; in subject matter, time period, and how the NPS manages and interprets painful moments in US history. While simplified, I choose to view Washita as the conclusion of what Sand Creek set into motion.
Following the massacre at Sand Creek in 1864, the Southern Cheyenne (and the other plains tribes; Arapahoe, Comanche, & Kiowa) became divided. Some, like the martial Dog Soldiers, became enraged against the white immigration into the plains of Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado and took their retribution on any pioneer of opportunity. They allied themselves with their Northern cousins and the Lakota in the Montana Territory or raided the frontier along the Arkansas river. Others, like Chief Black Kettle, advocated for peace, following the reservation system that the treaties allowed, and using the American legal system to their advantage. But they were often mixed together, with fighters staying with on the reservations of the peaceful tribes.
This created a pseudo-cycle. In response to the raids, Washington sent soldiers. But when fighting failed, they tried treaties. The Cheyenne (and others) tried to follow the treaties, but when Washington and the Indian Bureau failed to meet the needs of the Cheyenne (or even ratify the treaty), the Plains warriors grew angry again and joined again in the raiding, which forced Washington to send soldiers.
In 1868, the chain of command tasked Colonel Custer and the 7th Cavalry to put a stop to the raids in Western Kansas and put together a winter campaign to subdue the tribes during their weakest. Custer pushed South from Kansas into Indian Territory and there came upon the winter camp of Black Kettle – survivor of Sand Creek, peace Chief, and still the strongest proponent for the US among the Southern Plains. Black Kettle had tried to winter closer to the Army Fort, but was turned away.
Custer and his command overwhelmed the camp and took them by surprise. Because of the topography, Black Kettle was isolated from the other tribes and their mutual aid. With the exception of a troop of cavalry men who were separated and ambushed, Custer’s command got away virtually unscathed. The Cheyenne though suffered heavy casualties, including women and children including Black Kettle and his family. (The exact numbers are in dispute, as is the classification of the battle as a massacre). The will of the Southern Cheyenne was effectively broken and within a year so would that of the Dog Solders and they eventually all settled on the reservation in Oklahoma.
Today the NPS does a fair job at trying to be balanced about the history and seeks the input of the modern tribe for input on site interpretation and artifacts.
We started our visit here with Curtis going through the visitor center, then we went for a short walk on the Fire and Winds trail behind the building, which was dog friendly and featured informative signs about the dust bowl. After that, we drove to another spot where Curtis got out for a non-dog friendly walk down to the site of Black Kettles camp while Charlie and I got lunch ready in the van.
We contemplated camping in the grassland right next to the historic site, but after mulling it back and forth we decided to press on. While it was decent weather here, we knew we could be warmer by going further South, and the other site we had in mind promised great views and nearby hiking opportunities. And so we carried on, heading into Texas for the night, which proved to be a good decision!
