Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie and his Fourth…

Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie and his Fourth Cavalry had been transferred to the Department of the Platte following the defeat at the Little Bighorn.

Stationed initially at Camp Robinson, they form the core of the Powder River Expedition that had departed in October 1876 to locate the northern villages.

On November 25, 1876, his column discovers a sleeping village of Northern Cheyenne at the headwaters of the Powder River in Wyoming Territory.

In the so-called Dull Knife Fight, the soldiers destroy all of the villagers' winter food and clothing, and then slash their ponies' throats.

With their lodges and supplies destroyed and their horses dead or confiscated, the Northern Cheyenne will soon surrender.