Kansas Cavalry Unit
The Battle of Dry Creek, Wyoming, was fought between U.S. Cavalry and Indians on June 3, 1865.
At that time, Lieutenant Colonel Preston B. Plumb, in command of the 11th Kansas Cavalry, made his headquarters at a temporary tent camp called Camp Dodge, about six miles southeast of Platte Bridge Station. At about 3:00 p.m. on June 3, 1865, a band of ten warriors fired on the Platte Bridge Station from across the North Platte River. When a messenger brought Plumb the news, he and ten troops rode to the station, where he gathered ten more men from the Ohio Cavalry and a few more from the Kansas Cavalry and headed west after the raiders.
After pursuing the Indians for about five miles, the soldiers were close enough to fire and hit two of the warriors. The Indians then turned and briefly charged Plumb and his troops before breaking off. As Plumb and his men pursued, they soon came to Dry Creek, where they faced a party of about 60 warriors who charged them. However, the troops were quickly reinforced by another 20 men from the Kansas Cavalry, and the warriors made an about-face. The soldiers pursued the Indians for another two miles before being ambushed by about 30 warriors. Two of the soldiers were killed. Plumb reported one Indian killed and about five wounded when the battle was over.
Today, the battlefield is marked by a stone monument on the side of a hill just off an unimproved road, about 23 miles west of Kaycee.
By Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated April 2022.
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