In the opening battle of the U.S. Army's 1874 Indian campaign against the Southern Plains Indian Tribes, a force of 744 soldiers under Col. Nerlson A. Miles fought a 5-hour running battle with the Cheyenne, Comanche and Kiowa 10 mi. E. of this location. The army had been pursuing the bands for several days. The battle marked the first use of the Gatling Gun by the army west of the Mississippi River. Though the army destroyed several Indian villages, they failed to capture any of the Indiaans or force them back to reservations in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Known today as the Red River War, the campaign against the Indians resulted in their ultimate removal from the Texas panhandle.