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[[File:US-MAPS(1891)_p504_-_MAP_OF_TEXAS,_OKLAHOMA_AND_INDIAN_TERRITORY_(l).jpg|thumbnail|left|400px250px|Location of Adobe Walls in Texas Panhandle.]]
In early spring, 1874, white hunting parties travelled south from Dodge City in the direction of the Staked Plains in the Texas Panhandle. This move coincided with the journey undertaken by the South Plains tribes who were in search of buffalo as the provisions promised by the Indian Agents had not been delivered. Because of this, and the poaching of ponies and livestock, Native American tribes were increasing their call for war.
== On the Brink of War ==
Working as a unit exemplifies the sense of community felt among the residents of the make-shift settlement and highlights the opinion that white hunters were more frightened by Native Americans than they were of their fellow hunters. Further, it can be argued that the U.S. military leaders were exploiting the hunters for their own agenda. Most commanders wanted to rid the South Plains of Native Americans, either by confinement or extermination. In 1875, General Philip Sheridan addressed the Texas legislature and averred that the hunters had:
[[File:Quanah_Parker_on_horseback circa late 1800s.jpg|thumbnail|300px|left|Comanche Chief Quanah Parker, late 1800s.]]
'' “‘done more in the last two years to settle the vexed Indian question than the entire regular army has done in the past thirty years. They are destroying the Indians commissary…Send them powder and lead, if you will; but, for the sake of lasting peace, let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffaloes are exterminated. Then your prairies can be covered with speckled cattle and the festive cowboy, who follows the hunter as a second forerunner of an advanced civilization.’”''<ref>Gard, 215.</ref>
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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.
== June 27, 1874 ==
On the morning of June 27, 1874 the Battle of Adobe Walls commenced. Billy Dixon heard the war bugle of the Comanche and Kiowa and managed to escape from his wagon in time to join several others in the saloon in the center of the settlement. On the southernmost end of the makeshift town was the Rath store, which is where six men and Mrs. Olds had gathered for protection. On the opposite end was the horse corral that protected eleven men. In the center of those two structures was the saloon, which served as a veritable fortress for Dixon, Hanrahan, Masterson, and six other men. In all, twenty-seven settlers were distributed among three separate buildings with no means of communication.<ref>Haley, 70.</ref>When the South Plains Indians initiated their attack it was loud and swift.
War tactics of these specific tribes were swift, fierce, and athletic. The orders of battle were communicated by means of certain bugle calls, which led some to believe that a former soldier or army translator had aided the tribes in their assault. The attack began with a rapid charge toward the buildings. Once the target was reached, these magnificent horsemen circled the structures at a gallop while accurately firing their weapons; often times from under the neck of the animal. They T hey were then commanded to fall back, regroup, and charge again. When the first wave of the attack commenced at sunrise, Ike and Shorty Shadler were trapped in their wagon. The warriors circled the vehicle and upon hearing a noise, lifted the tarp concealing the brothers. Although they were still concealed, one of the men panicked and began firing his weapon, which resulted in the Indians firing in kind. The Shadler brothers were killed and mutilated in the wagon where they slept.
The occupants of the three structures began to organize their respective buildings and with the accuracy of the buffalo guns, soon felled the native warriors. The charges and circling continued and by mid-morning, the men in the saloon were running dangerously low on ammunition. Dixon and Hanrahan managed to escape through the saloon window and sprint inside the Rath store, where ammunition was in abundance. As the Rath store contained the least skilled marksmen and lowest number of residents, Dixon remained to bolster the defense. Several of the survivors of Adobe Walls remembered Mrs. Olds loading and firing as rapidly as the men. Hanrahan dashed back to the saloon and the repetitive battle continued until the early afternoon.<ref>Haley, 73.</ref>
The Comanche and Kiowa charges subsided in the afternoon as Chief Quanah Parker had been wounded. The Native Americans were stunned by the nature of this warrior’s injury. Quanah was struck by a bullet in his upper back. Their chief had only his fellow warriors at his back and once each was eliminated as the possible culprit, they concluded that the white man had developed a new type of weapon that was able to send a bullet on a trajectory that allowed it to reverse its own course. They thought the bullet turned itself in a different direction while in flight. This of course was not the case; rather, Quanah had been hit by a deflected or spent bullet. Having no knowledge of new technology, the tribal leaders called for a meeting on a distant butte so as to assess the situation. By this point, they had killed every stock animal at Adobe Walls, taken two scalps, and effectively trapped the remaining survivors inside of their own creation. Deeming the day as a success, the tribal council opted to forgo any further forward charges and instead monitored activity at the Walls. With the hostilities decidedly ended for the time, the white residents of the Walls were forced to act.
== Seeking Help ==
== Conclusion ==
Most of the hunters abandoned the settlement, some stayed; however, to salvage what they could from their inventories. William Olds had been on guard duty in the watch tower overlooking the camp. While descending the ladder at the end of his shift, he stumbled and accidentally discharged his weapon, which landed a shot directly to his head. Mrs. Olds was waiting at the bottom of the ladder. Six weeks after the battle, all of the residents departed and the 6th Cavalry was ordered to guard the perimeter of the settlement in order to allow the Native Americans to return to gather their dead. Estimates vary greatly as to the number of Comanche and Kiowa killed; some reports stated the casualty number as low as nine, while others showed one hundred-fifteen. A cavalry scout reported that he encountered at least thirty Native American graves.<ref>Haley, 78.</ref>When the tribes departed with their dead warriors, the burned and destroyed any remaining structures at Adobe Walls then branched off into separate bands to continue fighting in Texas, New Mexico, Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Kansas, and southeastern Colorado. This battle marked the official beginning of the Red River War.
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==Related DailyHistory.org Articles==
*[[Why Was Vicksburg “The Gibraltar of the Confederacy?”]]
*[[What Was the Significance of the Southwest in the Outcome of the Civil War]]
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==References==
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