On July 26, 1865, Sgt. Amos Custard and his men were bringing five supply wagons from Sweetwater Station near Independence Rock toward Platte Bridge Station when, about noon, they came into view from the direction of Red Buttes. Unaware of the morning’s skirmish, Custard had barely enough time to take a defensive position before a large group of Indians attacked. In a desperate four-hour fight to save the supply train, the soldiers were eventually overrun. The next day, a detachment from Platte Bridge Station found the bodies of Sgt. Custard and 20 of his men, while the only survivors were three of the five men on advance patrol from the supply train who made their way to safety.