American Indian battles, dinosaurs discussed at Historical Society dinner

Attendees at the Chase County Historical Society’s annual banquet and meeting Sunday were entertained by the descriptions of the Battle of Massacre Canyon.
After dinner, Historical Society President Charley Colton introduced speaker Don Keller of Trenton.
Keller helps run the Massacre Canyon Monument visitor’s center, just east of Trenton.
Colton first heard Keller speak at the history tent at the Cattlemen’s Ball this summer.
“My great-grandfather homesteaded south of Trenton in 1886, which was only 13 years after the Master Canyon battle,” Keller said.
The Battle of Massacre Canyon—a battle between Pawnee and Sioux Indians on Aug. 5, 1873—is believed to be the last battle between American Indians.
The battle
During a buffalo hunt with a white agent as their representative, a group of white buffalo hunters stopped a group of Pawnee near present-day Trenton and warned them that a band of Sioux were in the area.
“The Pawnee thought they were just trying to get them to leave so they didn’t pay much attention,” Keller said.
“(The Pawnee) thought they were doing pretty well,” Keller said. “But the Sioux came in three waves—an estimated 1,000 of them. And these were all trained warriors.”
The Pawnee leader, Sky Chief, was one of the first killed in the battle.
“Eventually they got the best of the Pawnee and they drove down the valley, clear down to the Republican River,” Keller said. “According to reports, about 69 Pawnee were killed and about less than half were men and the rest were women and children.”
Eventually the Pawnee were able to get back to their reservation, Keller said.

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