After the Little Bighorn Battle in 1876, the US government forced most northern Cheyenne from the northern plains to a reservation in Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma. In September 1878 a group led by Chiefs Dull Knife and Little Wolf attempted to return to their homeland. Angry and embittered by their plight, they killed settlers and herders as they fled through Kansas. The Cheyenne included 89 men, 112 women, and 134 children. Although some succeeded in reaching Montana, 149 were captured in northwest Nebraska. After learning they would be sent back to the reservation, the Cheyenne tried to escape. More than 60 were killed. Only a few of the original group ever returned to Indian Territory. The Cheyenne' escape from Indian Territory while pursued by troops from three military jurisdictions was considered a remarkable feat. Sadly, it resulted in the deaths of 40 Kansas settlers and herders. Nineteen of the were killed here in Decatur County, and their graves formed the beginning of the cemetery located east of this marker. A monument stands there today, erected by the community in memory of its loss.

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About July 1, 1867, Lt. Lyman S. Kidder with ten men of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry, and an Indian guide, were attacked by Indians one mile east of this marker. On July 12 their mutilated bodies were found by Lt. Col. George A. Custer, who ordered the unidentifiable remains buried on the spot in a common grave.

In March, 1868, the bodies were recovered by a detachment from Fort Wallace under command of Lt. Frederick H. Beecher, 3rd U.S. Infantry, who later that year was to die at the Battle of Beecher Island in northeastern Colorado. Kidder’s body, identified by a shirt he wore, was taken to St. Paul, Minn., by his father. The others were reburied at Fort Wallace, but in 1886 were removed to Fort Leavenworth military cemetery.

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In July 1867 Lt. Kidder and 11 men were killed by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians near this location while delivering a message from Frot Wallace, KS to Lt. Col. George A. Custer.

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