The Second Battle Of Adobe Walls

28 Buffalo Hunters Against 700 Indians

"In early June of 1874, Plains tribes, including Quahida Comanche, usually reluctant to come near the reservation, took that risk and conferred with the leaders of the reservation's tribes. Knowledge of increased buffalo hunting caused great concern among the Indians. A charismatic medicine man, named Ish-Ta-Ma, claimed he could make the warriors bullet proof and that his bowel movements would provide rifle cartridges. These ridiculous claims were taken to heart by the desperate Plains Tribes who were outraged by the new tactic of the United States encouraging the decimation of the buffalo herds.

Emboldened by Ish-Ta-Ma's prophesies, the combined tribes of Southern Cheyenne, Comanche and Kiowa, near one thousand strong, advanced towards Adobe Walls before daylight in what should have been an easy route. Fate was not in their favor. A beam inside of the camp cracked at approximately 4:00 a.m. awakening several of the inhabitants, most of whom had passed out after an extensive drinking session. Nature's beckoning drew two men outside. As they relieved themselves, they became aware of the presence of the Indians. Armed with Sharp 50's the awakened camp successfully held off five to eight raids of the combined Indian attack force."

Adobe Walls is where Billy Dixon took and made a 5000' shot from his Sharps 50/70 (.50 caliber bullet with 70 grains of powder), a long-distance kill that held the record for many years.

He admitted that he took the shot on a dare, and aren't those the ones you most often hit. The shot that you aren't all that concerned about because it doesn't look like it can be done so what the hell.

Billy was an Army scout and later arriving troopers measured the distance to "7/8ths of a mile", and while the measuring devices were rather primitive compared to today's standards, most folks simply remembered it as the 5000 footer.

Open sights. Balancing on a wagon wheel.

The Indians dragged away their dead, and the buffalo hunters lost 3 men during the fighting.

It remains unwise to trifle with professional marksmen.