Qualla: Battle of Ash Hollow https://qualla.com/battle-of-ash-hollow en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:04 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/r/6/battle-of-ash-hollow-wp/ash-hollow-cemetery-garden-co-.jpg Qualla: Battle of Ash Hollow https://qualla.com/battle-of-ash-hollow Battle of Ash Hollow: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-ash-hollow/ Photo credit G.K. Warren, Public domain. It started with a cow. A Mormon emigrant lost the animal along the Oregon Trail in August 1854; it wandered into a Sicangu Lakota camp where a Miniconjou Sioux named High Forehead killed it for food. This minor incident would cascade into the First Sioux War, culminating thirteen months later at Blue Water Creek in present-day Garden County, Nebraska. There, 600 U.S. soldiers under Brigadier General William S. Harney attacked 250 Sioux, killing 86 and taking 70 prisoners, mostly women and children. The Lakota would remember Harney by three names, none of them kind.

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Image: G.K. Warren | Public domain

]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/r/6/battle-of-ash-hollow-wp/9xr6-battle-of-ash-hollow-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Ash Hollow: The Grattan Affair https://qualla.com/battle-of-ash-hollow/ Photo credit Ammodramus, CC0. The 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie was supposed to bring peace. Disputes over livestock would be handled by Indian agents, not soldiers. But when the Mormon farmer reported his cow stolen, Fort Laramie's commander sent Lieutenant John Lawrence Grattan, a young officer said to be con...

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]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/r/6/battle-of-ash-hollow-wp/9xr6-battle-of-ash-hollow-the-grattan-affair.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Ash Hollow: Harney's March https://qualla.com/battle-of-ash-hollow/ Photo credit Ammodramus, CC0. The War Department chose William S. Harney to deliver punishment, with orders to 'whip the Indians.' The Harney expedition set out in August 1855 with 600 soldiers. On September 1, they found a Sioux encampment along the Platte River at a place called Blue Waters. Harney devised ...

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]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/r/6/battle-of-ash-hollow-wp/9xr6-battle-of-ash-hollow-harneys-march.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Ash Hollow: Caves Along the River https://qualla.com/battle-of-ash-hollow/ Photo credit Ammodramus, CC0. When the Sioux discovered the flanking force, Harney attacked the camp. Some families fled into caves along the riverbank. Harney ordered his men to fire into the caves. Women and children died in the darkness. A large group of mounted warriors tried to break through Heth's block...

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]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/r/6/battle-of-ash-hollow-wp/9xr6-battle-of-ash-hollow-caves-along-the-river.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Ash Hollow: Three Names for Harney https://qualla.com/battle-of-ash-hollow/ Photo credit Ammodramus, CC0. The Sioux gave Harney three names. For the slaughter at Blue Water Creek, they called him 'The Butcher.' For invading their territory, 'The Hornet.' For the peace treaty he forced upon them in March 1856, conducted without authorization from Washington, they called him 'The Big C...

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]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/r/6/battle-of-ash-hollow-wp/9xr6-battle-of-ash-hollow-three-names-for-harney.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Ash Hollow: A Peak and Its Name https://qualla.com/battle-of-ash-hollow/ Photo credit Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0. After the battle, someone in Harney's expedition renamed Hinhan Kaga, the highest peak in the sacred Black Hills, as Harney Peak. The expedition had never come within five miles of it. For the Lakota, this was salt in an open wound: their sacred place bearing the name of the man ...

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Image: Chris Light | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/r/6/battle-of-ash-hollow-wp/9xr6-battle-of-ash-hollow-a-peak-and-its-name.mp3 0:06 6 full