DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight. There's a creek running through Wichita County that carries a heavy name — Tenth Cavalry Creek. But it didn't always go by that.
First, folks called it Getty's Creek. Simple enough. Then the cowboys and settlers started poking around near its mouth, down where it meets the Red River, and what they found changed the name for good.
What they found were the remains of a military outpost. One that had been garrisoned by the U.S. Tenth Cavalry from 1873 to 1875.
Now most of those soldiers — Negro soldiers and their white officers both — had already seen the worst the world had to offer. They'd served in the Federal army through the Civil War, 1861 to 1865, and then gone on to Fort Sill, out in Indian Territory, before ending up at this staked timber outpost on the edge of the frontier. A long way from anywhere safe.
And this outpost, understand, wasn't stone walls and cannon. It was timber. Staked timber.
Out in the open. And legend — and I want you to hear that word, legend, because the marker is careful to use it — legend says the outpost was attacked by Indians. And that every officer, every man, every horse killed in that battle was buried together.
A common grave. Somewhere along this creek. Nobody has said exactly where.
The creek just holds that secret, running on toward the Red River, wearing a name that the cowboys and settlers gave it when they came across what was left and understood, at least in part, what had happened there. Getty's Creek became Tenth Cavalry Creek. And some names, once earned, don't let go.
What the marker says
First called Getty's Creek, this stream was renamed by cowboys and settlers who found near its mouth, on Red River, remains of a military outpost garrisoned by the U.S. Tenth Cavalry from 1873 to 1875. Most of the Negro soldiers and white officers stationed there had previously served in the Federal army during the Civil War (1861-1865) and at Fort Sill, in Indian Territory. This staked timber outpost was attacked by Indians; legend says that all the officers, men and horses killed in the battle were buried in a common grave somewhere along this creek.