One of the most celebrated victories during the Indian Wars was the Battle of Summit Springs July 11, 1869. The New York Times splashed news of this great victory across its front page, and for years Buffalo Bill Cody used a reenactment of this fight in his Wild West Show. While relatively unknown to most people today, it was in fact very exciting and even a little controversial.

Below Luther recalls the days leading up to the event -

The Republican River Expedition was organized for one purpose, and that was to eliminate the hostile Northern Cheyenne Dog Soldiers led by Tall Bull who were terrorizing the Republican River valley area in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. The situation had become serious and on June 9th 1869, an expedition consisting of eight undermanned companies (400 men), and 150 Pawnee Scouts led by Major Frank North, assisted by me, left Ft. McPherson heading east along the Platte River.

Breaking camp early that morning, the column marched to the Republican River and followed it for about twenty five miles, camping near the mouth of Medicine Creek. It was about midday, the Pawnees were encamped about a half a mile below the cavalry, and the wagon train was strung out in the center Suddenly a war whoop broke the stillness of the late afternoon, and seconds later a teamster galloped into camp with an arrow in his body. I had just started to eat supper when I heard the shrill whoop coming from the direction of the mule herd. Even though my vision of the event was obscured by a grove of trees, I ran in the general direction of the commotion, looking for a horse to mount.

I caught a horse, jumped onto his back without putting on a saddle, and with twenty of my scouts rode up the river to Cody who was camped near a ford.

Because Cody did not have time to unsaddle his horse, he was the first one to cross the river and then to chase the thieves. A party of seven Cheyennes had stolen up to the mule herd and stampeded them away from the camp, killing the two mule herders in the process. One of the muleskinners managed to gallop into camp, an arrow sticking in his body, but died later that night. The other man was killed before he knew the Indians were anywhere about.

A running fight quickly ensued with the Pawnees overtaking and killing two of the raiders just before dark. All of the mules were recovered, much to Carr's satisfaction, as the expedition would have been over without the mules to pull the heavy supply wagons.

Luther continues:

I soon overtook Cody, but some of my men had already passed him and had reached over and taken his revolver our of his holster. Cody was somewhat uneasy about it and asked me if I thought the Pawnees did not like him very well.

It seemed that one of my men that could talk a little English had told Cody that the summer before a party of Pawnee had gone south to steal horses from the Cheyenne. The Cheyennes discovered them and in the fight several Pawnees were killed, and this man told Cody that there was a white man with long hair with the Cheyenne, and that my man thought it was Cody. Cody told me this as we were galloping after the Cheyenne.

We soon came to where my men had overtaken and killed two of the Cheyennes, but the rest of them, five in number had disappeared, and although we rode for several miles further, we could not find them. It was dark now and I called the men together and told them we would go back. They had killed the two teamsters, and we had killed two of their warriors, so it was about a draw.

I asked Cody to point out the man that had taken his revolver, and that when he overtook Cody he saw that his horse was exhausted, so he grabbed the revolver and said he would bring it back. Cody could not speak any Indian language and so he didn't know what he said.

I then told them that Cody was not the white man that was with the Cheyenne the year before, and one of the Pawnees said, "I know he is not. I was with the war party and the man with the Cheyenne was much darker than Cody and his hair was black.

When I told Cody what this man said it made him feel better, and from that time on the Pawnees and Cody were good friends.

Luther had further thought on this affair when on September 12, 1927 many years later, he wrote a letter to his good friend George B. Grinnell.

When I got across the river and up the bank Cody "was about a hundred yards ahead of me and riding at a walk. When I overtook him he started his horse up and said, "Cap, your men have got me wrong. They think I am Wild Bill and your man that is riding the buckskin horse yelled at me and grabbed my six shooter out of the holster."

By this time the Cheyennes had abandoned the mule herd and my men were pretty close to them. Some of them were so near that a couple of the Cheyennes jumped off their horses and ran into a ravine and hid in the weeds. By the time Cody and I got there it was dark and my men had killed the two in the weeds.


FOOTNOTE:

The Pawnee who took the gun from Cody was named Traveling Bear. He would later win a medal for bravery at the Battle of Summit Springs and would die from wounds sustained at Massacre Canyon near Trenton, Nebraska in 1873. The pistol was an ivory handled Remington that Cody gave to Frank North several years later.

Click HERE to read how Lute recalls Summit Springs.

Some of the excerpts through out this area, were taken from a book called "Luther North, Frontier Scout" - and written by Jeff O'Donnell. Some of the photos, primarily those of his parents, his funeral and the military photo, are from the Nebraska State Historical Society.