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About 300 yards southeast of this point, the Oregon-California Trail traversed a wide ravine known locally as Indian Hollow -- the scene of the first fatal action of the Indian War of 1864 in Nebraska Territory.
Enraged and bewildered by unprovoked attacks upon their people in Colorado Territory, the Southern Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes determined to focus their revenge on the busy Oregon-California Trail. From advance camps on the Republican River, they fanned out to strike the route between present Hebron and the Platte River at the Adams-Kearney County line, a section of the road long considered to be peaceful and secure.
On the hot Sunday morning of August 7, the Indians ambushed a small train of six wagons crossing Indian Hollow. The train, owned by Thomas Simonton of Denver, was returning from St. Joseph, Missouri, under the leadership of Horace G. Smith. The cargo included a threshing machine, hardware, iron stoves, crockery, and foodstuffs, most of which was consigned to George Tritt, a Denver merchant. Five of the drivers were killed instantly by arrows. The sixth, with one arrow embedded in his forehead and another in his body, crawled into hiding in a field of tall sunflowers at the bottom of the hollow. The frightened horses and mules pulled the wagons up out of the ravine where the Indians cut them free of their harnesses. The wagons were ransacked and set ablaze, though not all of the cargo burned completely.
Early on Monday morning, August 8, George Comstock and Overland Stage Line employees from Thirty-Two Mile Station arrived on the scene. They found the wounded teamster, who related a few details of the attack before he died. The six men were buried on the ridge beside the trail, about 140 yards south of this point. They were the first victims of the great raids of August 7, 1864 which took at least forty-eight lives in Nebraska Territory.
The monument at the grave site was provided by Hastings Boy Scouts and was dedicated on Sunday, May 17, 1931, before a crowd of 300 local citizens.
Comments
OCTA member Ron Becher of Lincoln, Nebraska, has written the definitive study of the attacks on wagon trains traveling the Oregon Trail in Nebraska in 1864. (Massacre Along the Medicine Road, available from the OCTA bookstore.)
Location
South of Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska. NW 1/4, Sec. 24, T6N, R10W
Ownership
Adams County, Nebraska
Access
The marker can be read from the county road right-of-way. Permission is required to view the grave site.
Directions
From the intersection of U.S. 6 and U.S. 281 south of Hastings, Nebraska, drive south on 281 for six miles. Turn left (east) on dirt Saddlehorn Road. (The sign identifying Saddlehorn is on the west side of the highway.) There is a large state Oregon Trail monument on the west side of U.S. 281 just before the intersection with Saddlehorn Road. Drive 0.4 miles east on Saddlehorn to reach the site of the marker on the south side of the road. To reach the marker via Nebraska 74, the approximate route of the trail from the east, drive north on U.S. 281 from the intersection with Nebraska 74. Saddlehorn Road is 3 miles north. In this case, turn right to reach the marker.
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