Little Box Elder Creek

The stone gives three of the dead by surname and the girl by her guardians' name. Mary Kelly was Mary Hurley, seven by most accounts, the niece Fanny Kelly had adopted; Franklin was one of the Kellys' two Black hired men. The war party was Lakota, by Fanny Kelly's account mostly Miniconjou and Hunkpapa under an Oglala leader, and some told the emigrants that soldiers had killed their relatives on the Missouri. Fanny slipped Mary away the first night; the girl was found dead days later. Fanny was released at Fort Sully that December.

What the plaque says

Three men named Sharp, Franklin, and Taylor, and one unknown man were killed by Indians July 12, 1864 where the Oregon Trail crosses Little Box Elder Creek 2 1/2 miles S.W. of here. They were buried 4 miles S.W. by the grave of Mary Kelly who also was killed July 13, 1864. Erected by the Historical Landmark Commission of Wyoming 1954

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Ayres Natural Bridge Park — 1.1 mi
• Oregon Trail — 2.9 mi
• The One Mile Hog Ranch — 8.1 mi
• Bill Hooker — 8.2 mi