About July 1, 1867, Lt. Lyman S. Kidder, ten men of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry, and an Indian guide were attacked by Indians one mile east of this site. On July 12, Lt. Col. George A. Custer found their mutilated bodies and ordered the unidentifiable remains buried there in a common grave. In March 1868, a detachment from Fort Wallace under Lt. Frederick H. Beecher of the 3rd U.S. Infantry recovered the bodies. Later that year, Beecher died at the Battle of Beecher Island in northeastern Colorado. Kidder’s body, identified by his shirt, was taken to St. Paul, Minn., by his father. The others were reburied at Fort Wallace and in 1886 were removed to Fort Leavenworth military cemetery.