Kidder fight facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kidder Fight
Part of Hancock's War, American Indian Wars
Date 29 June 1867 Location present-day Sherman County, Kansas, near Goodland Result Cheyenne-Lakota victory
Belligerents
United States	Cheyenne Sioux
Commanders and leaders
Lyman S. Kidder†	Tobacco, Pawnee Killer
Strength
12 cavalry	>14 warriors
Casualties and losses
12 killed	2 killed

The Kidder Fight was a battle that happened on June 29, 1867, near what is now Goodland, Kansas. It was a clash between a small group of U.S. soldiers and a larger force of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. All 12 members of the U.S. Army group, led by Lieutenant Lyman S. Kidder, were killed. Two Lakota warriors also died in the fight. This event was part of the Indian Wars that took place on the western plains, specifically during a conflict known as Hancock's War.

Who Was Lyman Kidder?

Lyman Kidder was born in Vermont. His father, Jefferson P. Kidder, was a politician and a judge. Lyman's family later moved to the Dakota Territory. He fought in the American Civil War. In January 1867, he became a second lieutenant in the regular army. He was also the uncle of Jeff Kidder, who became a lawman in the Old West.

Kidder's Important Mission

In June 1867, Lieutenant Kidder and his soldiers were given an important job. They had to deliver messages from General William T. Sherman to Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer. Custer's group was camped on the Republican River in Nebraska.

When Kidder's group reached the camp, they found that Custer had already left. Custer had moved his soldiers south, then northwest. Kidder thought Custer had gone south to Fort Wallace. So, Kidder and his men headed that way.

The Fight Begins

On their way to Fort Wallace, Kidder's group was spotted by some Oglala Lakota buffalo hunters. These hunters quickly told two nearby Native American camps about the soldiers. These camps were on Little Beaver Creek in Colorado. The people in these camps were Oglala Lakota and Cheyenne who were hunting buffalo.

In the Oglala camp, Pawnee Killer and Bear Raising Mischief were important leaders. In the Cheyenne camp, leaders included Tangle Hair, Tobacco, and Howling Wolf. Nine young Dog Soldiers (a Cheyenne warrior society) were also there.

On June 29, it was a very warm day. Many Lakota and all the Cheyenne men stayed in their camps, relaxing. Their ponies were kept close by. When they heard about the soldiers, the Cheyenne men were the first to ride out to meet them.

The Battle

When Kidder's soldiers saw the twelve Dog Soldiers coming, they quickly rode away. They were looking for a good place to defend themselves. They soon got off their horses and found shelter in a low area of the ground.

The Dog Soldiers rode in circles around the soldiers, shooting at them. The Oglala men arrived soon after. They fought in their traditional way, getting off their horses and moving towards the soldiers on foot.

According to Cheyenne stories, a Lakota scout who was with the soldiers called out to his own people, asking to be spared. But the warriors were too angry and saw him as a traitor. Two Cheyenne warriors, Tobacco and Good Bear, had their ponies shot from under them. Two Oglala warriors were killed in the fight, including Yellow Horse, who had just become a chief.

Eyewitnesses said the fight lasted only a short time. All members of Lieutenant Kidder's group were killed.

What Happened Next?

Discovering the remains of Lieutenant Kidder and ten of his men, Harper's Weekly 1867

After the fight, Custer sent his own soldiers to look for Kidder's group. They found a dead army horse and signs of a battle along Beaver Creek. On July 12, Custer's scout, Will Comstock, found the bodies of Kidder and his men. They were north of Beaver Creek in northern Sherman County, Kansas. The Army believed the men were killed by Cheyenne and Sioux warriors led by Pawnee Killer.

Lieutenant Kidder's father, a judge, identified his son's body by his shirt. He took Kidder's body to be buried in the family plot in St. Paul, Minnesota. The bodies of the other soldiers were taken to Fort Wallace and buried there. Later, when Fort Wallace closed in the 1880s, the soldiers' remains were moved to Fort Leavenworth for reburial.

Many artists have created pictures showing Custer arriving at the scene of the fight. Custer himself described it in his book, My Life on the Plains. He wrote that each body was "pierced by from 20 to 50 arrows."

In 1967, a group called "The Friends of the Library of Goodland Kansas" put up a special marker. This marker honors the soldiers and the scout who died in the Kidder Fight.