Considered one of the last armed confrontations between Native Americans and U.S. forces, marking a closing episode of the American Indian warfare era.
Key Facts
- Date
- February 25, 1911
- Total deaths
- 9 (8 Daggetts, 1 posse member)
- Location
- Kelley Creek, near Winnemucca, Nevada
- Native group involved
- Shoshone (Daggett family band)
- Initial accusation
- Cattle rustling and killing of four stockmen
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
In January 1911, a small Shoshone band was accused of rustling cattle and subsequently killing four stockmen they believed had come to investigate the dead cattle. A posse of law enforcement officers and citizens was assembled and dispatched to track the band.
On February 25, 1911, the posse located the Shoshone band encamped near Kelley Creek, Nevada. A largely one-sided engagement followed, resulting in the deaths of nine people: eight members of the Daggett family and one posse member.
The affair was briefly characterized at the time as a Native American revolt, but is now regarded as a family's desperate attempt to escape law enforcement. It is widely considered one of the last massacres of the American Indian warfare era, marking a symbolic close to that period of U.S. history.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent