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[[File:220px-Billydixon.jpg|thumbnail|300px|Sharp Shooter, Billy Dixon.]]

Throughout May and early June, Billy Dixon was scouting with his party and heard of isolated Indian attacks on minor camps along the small offshoots of the Canadian River. Dixon, along several of his peers, returned to the safety of Adobe Walls before June ended. On the 18th of the month, army scout and interpreter Amos Chapman arrived at Adobe Walls with intelligence that there was a planned Indian attack underway. Interestingly, Chapman conveyed this news only to the store owners, Myers and Rath. These men did not share this information with the hunting parties as they were earning substantial amounts of money from the hunters. Further, the shopkeepers did not want to be abandoned by the hunters and left to their own devices to ward off the marauding Native Americans. Chapman; however, was indebted to John Wesley Mooar for defending him in a previous saloon melee and felt obligated to warn Mooar of the impending danger. Mooar’s brother, Josiah was south of Adobe Walls on a scouting expedition and was soon reached with the frightening news.

The Mooar brothers, Myers, and Rath all departed Adobe Walls under the guise of transporting furs to Dodge City. On their way north they encountered and warned two brothers, Ike and Shorty Shadler, who were destined for Adobe Walls. The Shadlers arrived at the settlement on June 26, 1874, unloaded their wagon of goods, reloaded it with hides, prepared to leave the camp at first light, and bedded down for the night in their wagon. Jim Hanrahan was another member of the group who was camped at Adobe Walls. Hanrahan’s outfit had an abundance of skinners yet lacked an accurate marksman, thereby leaving his skinners without enough work. Conversely, Billy Dixon was known to be the finest marksman in the Plains region yet lacked a sufficient number of skinners. He and Hanrahan elected to combine their efforts so as to maximize their profitability. After loading his wagon on June 26, Dixon prepared to leave early the next morning to avail himself of his new skinners. Like the Shadlers, he slept in his wagon so as to protect his goods. Before retiring for the evening, he led his horses to the nearby pasture to afford them the opportunity to graze for the evening. Had Dixon known that a Native American war party between 700 and 1200 strong was preparing to attack the following morning, he likely would have kept his team hitched to his wagon.