The settlers surrounded a party of them in a house and ordered
them to surrender. Instead of doing so, they opened fire and wounded a man named Peters in the shoulders. The settlers replied with a volley, killing four Pawnees, after which they sent a courier bearing the news to Omaha and asking for assistance. Since Governor Black was absent from the capital, an expedition was organized with the approbation of Secretary Morton, and under the direction of General John M. Thayer, they started for the scene of the trouble. Information was conveyed to the governor by telegram and he started immediately for the capital. With him were a few Government troops under Lieutenant Robertson of the Dragoons. They arrived at Omaha on the evening of July 5. With these troops and some volunteers, he overtook the expedition under General Thayer on the morning of July 8. The entire force then numbered 200 men with one six-pounder cannon. After a forced march of four days up the Elkhorn Valley, the Indians were found at a camp stretched along the banks of a small stream about ten miles above the fork of the Elkhorn. They were engaged in their usual summer hunt. The Military were about to charge when Chief Peta-le-sharu, hastily wrapping a United States flag around himself, calling "me good Indian, don't shoot," advanced to parley, and the soldiers were halted. A conference followed, which resulted in the unconditional surrender of the Indians, who turned over six of their young men as the guilty culprits and signed an agreement that pay for the property destroyed, should be taken out of their annuities. The little stream on the bank of which the Indians surrendered was thereafter called Battle Creek to commemorate the battle that might have been. The same name survives as an additional reminder of the affair in that of the prosperous town situated a few hundred yards southeast of the place where the Pawnee camp was situated July, 1859.

An early settler of the area, who was with the troops on this occasion, was Samuel Thatch. He reported that the site of this engagement to have been just northwest of the Village of Battle Creek, on the west side of the creek, with the troops under General Thayer coming up on the east side of the creek and the Indians camped on a knoll. Every boy and girl who grew up in Battle Creek knew this knoll as Bunker Hill. It is situated just northwest of the first bridge across the Battle Creek as you leave town. Paul and Barbara Moore say that Barbara's grandfather, Sam Thatch, who was with the troops, said this was the knoll in the pasture on the west side of the highway owned now by Ray Nathan.

It was only eight years later that the first settlers became acquainted with Chief Peta-le-sharu and they dubbed him as "Old Pete."

The early settlers, especially the women and children, were often frightened by the Indians and had to put up with them begging for food when their own supplies were so meager. At times they suffered from Thieving by the Indians but there is no known case of anyone having been molested personally by them in our area.

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