Part of our in-depth series exploring the forts of Comancheria
Tenth Cavalry Soldiers
Tenth Cavalry Creek Burkburnett (Wichita County) SH 240, 14 miles W.
First called Getty's Creek, this stream was renamed by cowboys and settlers who found near its mouth, on Red River, remains of a military outpost garrisoned by the U.S. Tenth Cavalry from 1873 to 1875.
Most of the African soldiers and white officers stationed there had previously served in the Federal Army during the Civil War (1861-1865) and at Fort Sill, in Indian territory.
This staked timber outpost was attacked by Indians; legend says that all the officers, men and horses killed in the battle were buried in a common grave somewhere along this creek.
A Campfire Sketch, line drawing by Frederic Remington. Photo from the book, Encyclopedia of American Indian Wars, by Jerry Keenan.
In 1861, at about this same place, a little south of the Red River and west of the Big Wichita, Confederate Camp Jackson was established at the outbreak of the Civil War. Stanley S. McGowen, in his book Horse Sweat and Powder Smoke, describes a Texas Mounted Riflemen punitive drive into Indian Territory led by Col. Henry E. McCulloch with the aid of scout Charlie Goodnight.
Col. Henry E. McCulloch
The last action seen by the Texas Mounted Riflemen occurred in the early spring of 1862.
