In the summer of 1822 at Crow Buttes in Harding County, a battle between the Crow and Sioux began after Sioux men ravaged a Crow camp, destroying it and raping the squaws. Warfare followed as Crow warriors left their women, children, and old folks at Sand Creek north of the Buttes and fled to the top of Crow Buttes for a better vantage point, with Sioux fighters pursuing them. The Crow had no water, the weather was sultry, and no rain fell. The Sioux encircled Crow Buttes and waited until the trapped Crow died of thirst. Afterward, the nearby Canyon of Skulls to the northwest was filled with skeletons of Sioux who died like flies after contracting a fever from the Crow.