Battle of Little Robe Creek

Battle of Little Robe Creek
Part of the Comanche Wars, Texas–Indian wars, Apache Wars

Comanche warriors, circa 1870.
DateMay 12, 1858
Location35°58′24.2394″N 99°54′28.89″W / 35.973399833°N 99.9080250°W / 35.973399833; -99.9080250 (Little Robe Creek Battlefield)
Result United States victory
Belligerents
 United States
Tonkawa
Caddo
Anadarko
Waco
Shawnee
Delaware
Tawakoni
Comanche
Kiowa
Apache
Commanders and leaders
United States John Salmon Ford
Shapley Prince Ross
Placido-Tonkawa
O'quinn-Tonkawa
Jim Pockmark-Caddo-Anadarko
Jose Casa Maria-Caddo
Shot Arm-Waco
Jim Linney-Shawnee-Delaware
Nid-e-wats-Tawakoni
Iron Jacket 
Peta Nocona
Strength
100 Americans
113 Indian allies[1]: 232 
200–600
Casualties and losses
2 killed and 4–5 wounded[1]: 237  76 killed
60 captured[1]: 237 
400 horses captured[1]: 237 
Little Robe Creek Battlefield is located in Oklahoma
Little Robe Creek Battlefield
Little Robe Creek Battlefield
Location within Oklahoma
View of the Antelope Hills battlefield, with the Antelope Hills in the background and the Canadian River the midground. The confluence with Little Robe Creek is downstream to the left.

The Battle of Little Robe Creek, also known as the Battle of Antelope Hills and the Battle of the South Canadian,[2] took place on May 12, 1858. It was a series of three distinct encounters that took place on a single day, between the Comanches, with Texas Rangers, militia, and allied Tonkawas attacking them. The military action was undertaken against the laws of the United States at the time, which strictly forbade such an incursion into the Indian Territories of Oklahoma, and marked a significant escalation of the Indian Wars. It also marked the first time American or Texas Ranger forces had penetrated the Comancheria as far as the Wichita Mountains and Canadian River, and it marked a decisive defeat for the Comanche.[3]

Military historians distinguish between the Antelope Hills expedition by the Texas Rangers and the Battle of Little Robe Creek, with the former being the entire campaign against the Comanche conducted from January to May 1858, starting in Texas above the Edwards Plateau, and continuing on to the Indian Territories in what is now Oklahoma. The latter is the specific May 12 battle at Little Robe Creek, with all three encounters counting as one sustained, day-long battle. Since federal troops would not attack the Comanche and Kiowa in that portion of the Comancheria, the Texas Rangers launched the incursion into the Antelope Hills.[3]

  1. ^ a b c d Ford, J.S., 1963, Rip Ford's Texas. Austin: University of Texas Press, ISBN 0292770340
  2. ^ DeShields, James T. (31 October 2017) [1886]. Cynthia Ann Parker – via Project Gutenberg.
  3. ^ a b Fehrenbach, T.R. "Comanches, The Destruction of a People