LASR.net Homepage




Menu

Battle of Blue Water


category : Historical Markers
Battle of Blue Water This historical marker recounts the largest engagement between United States troops and Native Americans ever fought in Nebraska territory, and one of the 12 largest engagements between Native Americans and the white man.

On September 5, 1855, the U. S. Army's 600-man Sioux Expedition, commanded by Col. William S. Harney, attacked and destroyed a Lakota village located three miles north on Blue Creek. The fight became known as the Battle of Blue Water, sometimes the Battle of Ash Hollow, after the nearby landmark, or the Harney Massacre.

The Army's attack avenged the Indian annihilation of Lt. John Gratfan's command near Fort Laramie in 1854. Harney concluded the more than 250 Brules and Oglalas camped on Blue Creek were the guilty parties. He divided his force and led his infantry towards the village. While Harney engaged in a delaying parley with Chief Little Thunder, the mounted troops had circled undetected to the north.

The infantry opened fire with its new, long-range rifles and forced the Indians to flea towards the mounted soldiers who inflicted terrible casualties. Eighty-six Indians were killed, seventy women and children were captured, and their tipis were looted and burned. The first, yet often overlooked, military campaign against the Lakota kept the Overland Trail open, but only postponed until 1863-64, a war between the two nations.

- Nebraska State Historical Society


Address: Highway 26 North

Come visit us in Oshkosh, Nebraska

Attractions and Upcoming Events

Oregon Trail Marker

This marker of the Oregon Trail is located on the walking path that leads visitors to the crest of Windless Hill in Ash Hollow State Historical Park.

Oshkosh, NE Historical Markers

Directional Stone Marker

This stone marker has been moved from its original location and placed just north of the Nebraska Historical Marker of the John Hollman grave.

It is inscribed - "TO THE PIONEERS WHO TRAVELED THIS TRAIL, erected by GARDEN CO.

Oshkosh, NE Historical Markers

Battle of Blue Water

This historical marker recounts the largest engagement between United States troops and Native Americans ever fought in Nebraska territory, and one of the 12 largest engagements between Native Americans and the white man. On September 5, 1855, the U. S. Army's 600

Oshkosh, NE Historical Markers

Cresent Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge is part of a nationwide system established for the preservation of waterfowl. The 48,000-acre refuge is approximately 30

Oshkosh, NE Wildlife Refuges

Garden County Courthouse

Garden County Courthouse Listed in the National Register of Historical Places [GD03-003] Listed 1990/01/10 In an election held in 1909, Deuel County voters approved the creation of Garden County and the older county lost three-fourths of its territory. Oshkosh was established in 1889

Oshkosh, NE Historic Courthouses

Things to do Historical Markers near Oshkosh, NE

Sam Bass Train Robbery Marker

The first and greatest robbery of a Union Pacific Train took place near Big Springs on the night of September 18, 1877. The l...