Battle of Warbonnet Creek

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Date	July 17, 1876
Location	Nebraska
Result	U.S. victory

Belligerents

Cheyenne

United States
U.S. 5th Cavalry Regiment

Commanders

Lone Wolf

Wesley Merritt

Strength

800

200

Casualties and losses

1 killed
? wounded

v • d • e Black Hills War

Powder River – Rosebud – Little Bighorn – Warbonnet Creek – Slim Buttes – Cedar Creek – Dull Knife Fight – Wolf Mountain

The Battle of Warbonnet Creek was a skirmish characterized by a duel between legendary scout and showman "Buffalo Bill" Cody and a lone warrior he mistook for Cheyenne Chief Yellow Hand. The engagement is often referred to as the First Scalp for Custer because of this incident. It occurred July 17, 1876, in Sioux County in northwestern Nebraska.

After the defeat of George A. Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn, many Native Americans joined with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, encouraged by the Indians' success. About 800 Cheyenne warriors set out from the Spotted Tail and Red Cloud agencies in Nebraska.

The United States Army had brought the U.S. 5th Cavalry Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Eugene Carr, from Oklahoma to a position on the Cheyenne River in South Dakota to guard against such an occurrence. Carr was replaced in command on July 1 by Colonel Wesley Merritt, and when news of the Battle of the Little Big Horn reached General George Crook on July 5, the 5th Cavalry was ordered to reinforce Crook on Goose Creek in Montana. However word of the breakout of the Cheyenne also reached Merritt, and guided by the legendary "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Merritt was able to intercept the Cheyenne warriors.

Merritt planned an ambush. The veteran cavalry officer hid most of his 200 troopers inside covered wagons and posted sharpshooters nearby but out of sight. Spotting Merritt's seemingly unescorted wagon train along Warbonnet Creek, the Cheyenne warriors charged directly into the trap. A few warriors were wounded by the troopers, but the only real action of the engagement was a duel between "Buffalo Bill" and a young warrior named Hay-o-wei (translated as Yellow Hair). Cody pulled his Winchester carbine and killed the Indian, then pulled out a Bowie knife and scalped the dead man. The rest of the warriors under Chief Lone Wolf broke and fled so quickly that not a single trooper was killed or injured. Merritt then complied with his orders to join Crook, whose expedition then linked up with that of General Alfred H. Terry, bringing a combined strength of the U.S. force to about 4,000.

A scout accompanying the cavalry misidentified the dead Indian as the important Cheyenne Chief Yellow Hand. Ever the showman, Buffalo Bill returned to the stage in October, his show highlighted by a melodramatic reenactment of his duel with the supposed Yellow Hand. He displayed the fallen warrior's scalp, feather war bonnet, knife, saddle and other personal effects.