A Punitive March Turns Into A Saber Charge On The Kansas Frontier

A Punitive March Turns Into A Saber Charge On The Kansas Frontier

From Wild West Podcast by Michael King/Brad Smalley

April 13, 2026 · 17 min

About this episode

The episode explores the Cheyenne Campaign of 1857 and its significance in the conflict between the U.S. Army and the Plains Indians.

Send us Fan Mail A river can look calm and still be a trap. We drop into the Solomon River valley in 1857, where the U.S. Army launches what many consider the first true campaign against the Plains Indians in this series: the Cheyenne Campaign of 1857, better known as the Battle of Solomon Fork in northwest Kansas. The stakes are bigger than a single clash. This is the collision between a mobile Cheyenne world built on buffalo hunting, raiding, and shifting boundaries and a United States dete...

People in this episode

Hosts: Michael King, Brad Smalley

Topics covered

  • Cheyenne Campaign
  • Plains Indians
  • U.S. Army
  • Kansas history
  • buffalo hunting
  • military conflict

Keywords

  • Cheyenne Campaign
  • Battle of Solomon Fork
  • Kansas
  • Plains Indians
  • U.S. Army
  • 1857
  • military history

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Kansas

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