Bates Battlefield

The Bates Battlefield was the scene of an 1874 action in which an Arapaho encampment was attacked by U.S. Army forces under Captain Alfred E. Bates. The battlefield is a narrow valley in Hot Springs County, Wyoming, near the junction of the Big Horn Mountains and the Owl Creek Mountains. Variously called the Bates Battle, the Battle of Young's Point, the Battle of Snake Mountain and the Nowood Battle, the action was part of a campaign by forces under the command of Lieutenant General Philip Sheridan to protect the comparatively sedentary Shoshone under Chief Washakie from raids by their traditional enemies, the Northern Cheyenne, the Sioux and the Northern Arapaho. In June 1874, "Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors decided to attack the Wind River Shoshones. As the invaders crossed the Big Horn Mountains, they had a disagreement about the purpose of their trip. Some claimed it was a raid for murder and the spoils of war; others said it was to steal horses. Because of the disagreement, the Arapahoes refused to participate." Sheridan ordered Bates to raid the Arapaho camp, reported to comprise between 40 and 112 lodges. On July 1, 1874, Bates set forth leading Company B, 2nd Cavalry with 63 cavalrymen, 20 white and Shoshone scouts under Lieutenant R.H. Young, and a party of 167 Shoshone under Washakie. Bates led thirty cavalrymen and twenty Shoshone against the encampment, occu

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