The wood supply problem was specifically acute at Fort Phil Kearny because of the fort’s location.

The Piney Creek valley where the fort was built offered water but not timber in close proximity.

The pinery — the forest where the wood parties cut their timber — was several miles from the fort, requiring daily supply runs through terrain that the fort’s garrison couldn’t see or control.

The Fetterman Fight in Detail

The events of December 21, 1866, unfolded over the course of a few hours in a way that reveals both the sophistication of the operation mounted by the allied warriors and the fatal decision-making of the American commander.

The attack on the wood train that morning was the triggering event, but it was not the attack that was designed to kill.