I'm new here, living in Coffeyville. I came across a rather obscure local story about one of the few Civil War conflicts to take place in Kansas, that occurred only about 15 miles from me. It involved only about 20 Confederate officers led by Col. Charles Harrison, who ran into a group of nearly 200 Osage, who were "Union men". The Osage chased and fought the Rebels for about 4-5 miles along what is named "Rebel Creek" which is directly across the Verdigris River (east) from the present town of Independence, KS, in Montgomery county. There, backed up against the river, the soldiers made their "last stand" on a bar along the east bank and were slaughtered, though two men did manage to escape. The dead were stripped, scalped, mutilated, and beheaded.
The Osage reported the encounter to Federal troops in Humbolt Kansas, and within a few days, troops arrived at Rebel Creek to investigate. The found the bodies in a state of putrefaction, but removed the bodies up the bank, to a mass grave on level ground. Soldiers had to wear bandanas with strong aromatic medicine (menthol?) to cover the stench.
One of the survivors told his tale to a magazine in the 1910's. That story, as well as a couple of newspaper stories, are the only records of the event. No Federal or Confederate Army records have been found giving any more details. There is a very short book, (about 60 pgs),"Massacre at Rebel Creek" by Clay and Lucie Bramble, that tells this story. I've given the "Cliffnotes" version.
As far as I know, this location has never been searched. Likely the only thing that might be located is the grave...possibly. There are old-timers' stories of human bones being found in the area. The whole area around Rebel Creek is cultivated farmland, with dense trees and brush along the river and creek. The Verdigris River is prone to massive flooding occasionally (last time was 2007), so any sand or gravel bar has likely disappeared over the past 155 years.
I am doing some more research, and will approach the landowner soon to seek permission to at least recon the area. If any of you might know of any more stories of this, please share.
LOL Just thought I'd drop in to say howdy to all!
