Army Train on the Santa Fe Trail.
On June 7, 1847, Lieutenant John Love led about 80 soldiers from Company B out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to the Santa Fe Trail. Their orders were to escort a paymaster to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Protecting paymaster Major Charles Bodine, 12 wagons, and about $350,000 in payroll, the troops set out for the Pawnee Fork Crossing near present-day Larned, Kansas, on June 23, 1847. After crossing the Little Arkansas River, they spied several Kiowa and Comanche Indians and went on high alert.
On the morning of June 24, the troops crossed the Pawnee Fork in high water, which made for a long and difficult day. They finally succeeded and made camp on the other side of the crossing.
Comanche Indians.
The following day, the troops caught up with another wagon train headed by a man named Hayden. The two groups camped near each other along the Arkansas River. On June 26, the livestock was allowed to graze in the valley when Comanche Indians attacked Hayden’s campsite. Love and his troops quickly mounted up to resist the attack, but not before the livestock were all run off. More Indians then appeared, and rather than chasing the livestock, Love and his men fell back to protect the paymaster and the payroll, as he had been assigned to do.
During the battle, six soldiers were killed, their bodies mutilated after death. Six more were wounded. Love and his men let the wounded heal before taking off again on July 2. The newspaper referred to the battle as “Lieutenant Love’s Defeat,” even though they followed orders and protected the payroll.
The battle site is located about 9 ½ miles West of Garfield, Kansas, on U.S. Highway 56 and is designated with a marker on the South side of the highway.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated October 2026.
Also See:
Indian Wars, Battles & Massacres
Indian Wars of the Frontier West
See Sources.