Battle of Summit Springs

The two women the bronze names in parentheses were Kansas homesteaders taken in the Dog Soldier raid on Spillman Creek on May 30, 1869. Maria Weichel, an immigrant from Hanover, lost her husband there; Susanna Alderdice was carried off with her baby daughter, who did not survive the captivity. Both were struck down as the camp was charged. Weichel, shot in the back, lived. Alderdice was buried on the field the next morning, and her grave has never been found. Carr's men first called the spring Susanna for her, before the battle's own name replaced it.

What the plaque says

This tablet is the property of the State of Colorado 13 miles southeast from this point is the site of the Battle of Summit Springs last engagement with Plains Indians in Colorado, July 11, 1869. Cheyennes who raided western Kansas were attacked by General E. A. Carr with the Fifth U.S. Cavalry and Pawnee scouts under Maj. Frank North. Two white captives were held by the Indians; one (Mrs. Alderdice) was killed, the other (Mrs. Weichel) was rescued, Chief Tall Bull and 51 Indians killed. Erected by the State Historical Society of Colorado from the Mrs. J. N. Hall Foundation and by Boy Scout Troop No. 18 of Sterling, Colorado. 1934

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sterling Tree Sculptures — 6.1 mi
  A plains town that answered dying shade trees by handing their trunks to a young local carver, and became the City of Living Trees.

More markers nearby

• Valley Station — 7.3 mi
• Fort Wicked — 8.6 mi