During the winter of 1866-1867, false rumors of a major Plains Indian uprising led Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, the new department commander, to march 1,400 troops from Fort Riley to Fort Larned to intimidate Plains tribes into going peacefully to reservations. Near Pawnee Fork, 32 miles from Fort Larned, a peaceful encampment of Cheyenne Dog Soldiers and Oglala Lakota, including leaders such as Tall Bull, White Horse, Bull Bear, Gray Beard, Medicine Wolf, White Head, and Pawnee Killer, had been living without expecting trouble. After a blizzard delayed a meeting, Hancock accused tribal representatives of lying about their peaceful intentions and on April 13, 1867, moved his troops toward their village. Chiefs agreed to meet him the next day if he would not come closer, but when no one arrived the following morning, Hancock advanced west over the ridge and encountered about 300 Cheyenne and Lakota warriors drawn up in a line, hoping to keep him away from their village. A battle was narrowly avoided through the efforts of Indian Agent Edward Wynkoop and interpreter Edmund Guerrier, though Hancock formed his troops into a line of battle and Roman Nose reportedly threatened to kill him before Bull Bear led him away. Hancock then camped near the village, and the inhabitants, fearing an attack like Sand Creek, fled with what they could carry. Lt. Col. George A. Custer and the 7th Cavalry found the village abandoned except for an old Lakota warrior, a deaf Cheyenne woman, and a sick girl. Concluding the people must be guilty because they had fled, Hancock sent Custer in pursuit without success and on April 19 ordered the hide lodges and property destroyed and the abandoned village burned. The action helped begin "Hancock's War," drew other tribes into the conflict, and violence continued across the Southern Plains until the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaties of October 1867, which themselves failed to end warfare for years.