The Battle of Honey Springs (also known as the Affair at Elk Creek) on July 17, 1863, is an American Civil War engagement and an important victory for Union forces in their efforts to gain control of the Indian Territory.
It is the largest confrontation between Union and Confederate forces in the area that will eventually become Oklahoma.
The engagement is also unique in the fact that white soldiers are the minority in both fighting forces
Native Americans make up a significant portion of each of the opposing armies and the Union force contains African-American units.
The battleground is about four and a half miles (seven point two kilometers) northeast of what is now Checotah, Oklahoma and fifteen miles (twenty-four kilometers) south of Muskogee.
It is also about twenty miles (thirty-two kilometers) southwest of Fort Gibson.
