Prairie Moon

STORY OF THE “LONG SHOTâ€ 2014
Kansas Governor’s One Shot Turkey Hunt

"A cavalry trooper and his scout sight a group of turkeys across the creek and take careful aim ". In 1878, Northern Cheyenne leaders Dull Knife and Little Wolf and approximately 350 of their followers, left the reservation at Darlingtion Agency, Indian Territory (Oklahoma), in an attempt to return to their native homeland in Montana, some 1500 miles away. Starvation and disease had decimated many of the Northern Cheyenne on the reservation and many decided to that they had to return home. As they progressed on the trail, they were followed and attacked several times by U.S. soldiers and scouts. Each time, the Northern Cheyenne were able to succeed in driving the soldiers back and they continued moving further north towards their homeland. At Punished Woman's Fork in Kansas, Little Wolf and Dull Knife decided that they had to make a stand and sheltered the women, children and elderly in a cave to protect them while the warriors defended them against U.S. Cavalry and Infantry soldiers led by Lt. Col. William H. Lewis, who had assumed command from Ft. Dodge, Kansas a few days earlier. In the engagement that followed, Lt Col. Lewis was mortally wounded and the fighting eventually ended with the approach of nightfall. During the night, Chief Dull Knife, Little Wolf and their followers were able to escape and evade the soldiers. The next morning, finding that the Northern Cheyenne had escaped, Caption Clarence Mauck who had assumed the command, ordered the troops forward in pursuit of the fleeing Northern Cheyenne. At Chalk Creek, Mauck would order the men to hunt for food which they did, finding livestock and some wild game in the area which has been recreated in Jerry's new painting "The Long Shot". On September, 27, 2013, descendants of the Northern Cheyenne and U.S. Soldiers celebrated the 135th Anniversary of Punished Woman's Fork and helped dedicate the battlefield as a National and State Historic site.