THE STORY OF THE WASHITA Copper Plate & Envelope

1. EDWARD S. CURTIS. Plate 658 - The Story of the Washita, 1927. 15.6x11.4" image on 17.9x12.8" copper plate. Plate date 1930. From Portfolio 19, The Indians of Oklahoma. The Wichita. The southern Cheyenne. The Oto. The Comanche. The Peyote Cult, of The North American Indian. Engraved on plate recto: Plate 658 / The Story of the Washita / From Copyright Photograph 1927 by E.S. Curtis / Photogravure Suffolk Eng. Co. Cambridge Mass.

2. EDWARD S. CURTIS. Plate 658 - The Story of the Washita, 1927. 15.4x11.3" photogravure on 17x12.8" paper mounted on 17.6x13.1" paper envelope fragment. Print date 1930. From Portfolio 19, The Indians of Oklahoma. The Wichita. The southern Cheyenne. The Oto. The Comanche. The Peyote Cult, of The North American Indian. Inscribed in blue ink on print recto: Plate 658 / The Story of the Washita / From Copyright Photograph 1927 by E.S. Curtis / Photogravure Suffolk Eng. Co. Cambridge Mass; printer's marks in red pencil.

Curtis wrote about this: "An Old Cheyenne warrior recounts the famous battle of the Washita in 1868, when the tribe was severely defeated by General Custer."

Now understood to be a massacre prosecuted by George Custer, here is a synopsis:

November 27, 1868. Without bothering to identify the village or do any reconnaissance, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an early morning attack on a band of peaceful Cheyenne living with Chief Black Kettle.

Convicted of desertion and mistreatment of soldiers earlier that year in a military court, the government had suspended Custer from rank and command for one year. Ten months into his punishment, in September 1868, General Philip Sheridan reinstated Custer to lead a campaign against Cheyenne Indians who had been making raids in Kansas and Oklahoma that summer. Sheridan was frustrated by the inability of his other officers to find and engage the enemy, and despite his poor record and unpopularity with the men of the 7th Cavalry, Custer was a good fighter.

Sheridan determined that a campaign in winter might prove more effective, since the Indians could be caught off guard while in their permanent camps. On November 26, Custer located a large village of Cheyenne encamped near the Washita River, just outside of present-day Cheyenne, Oklahoma. Custer did not attempt to identify which group of Cheyenne was in the village, or to make even a cursory reconnaissance of the situation. Had he done so, Custer would have discovered that they were peaceful people and the village was on reservation soil, where the commander of Fort Cobb had guaranteed them safety. There was even a white flag flying from one of the main dwellings, indicating that the tribe was actively avoiding conflict.

Having surrounded the village the night before, at dawn Custer called for the regimental band to play "Garry Owen," which signaled for four columns of soldiers to charge into the sleeping village. Outnumbered and caught unaware, scores of Cheyenne were killed in the first 15 minutes of the "battle," though a small number of the warriors managed to escape to the trees and return fire. Within a few hours, the village was destroyed-the soldiers had killed 103 Cheyenne, including the peaceful Black Kettle and many women and children.
Credit: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/custer-massacres-cheyenne-on-washita-river
Condition Report: 1. Very Good. Minor scratches/dents, dark spots, and ink residue throughout plate surface.
2. Fair/Poor. Image loss on print, top right corner. Print surface is dirty, creased, spotted with printer's ink, and has tears throughout. The envelope is torn and fragile.