and minds for our future citizens. kneels will remain as part of a better ohio. >> what is your vision in 2020? student cam 2020 is asking students what issue do you want most to see the presidential candidates address during the campaign? students cam is c-span's nationwide video documentary competition for middle and high school students. with $100,000 in total cash prizes at stake, including a $5,000 grand prize. students are asked to provide a short video, include c-span video and provide differing points of view. information to help you get started is on our website. student cam.org.

>> coming up, our look at sheridan continues as we go just outside the city to the fort phil kearny historic site. it played an important role between the u.s. and local native americans between 1886 and 186 . -- 1866 and 186 . >> here at kearny, the landscape is our artifact. it's our job to help people understand how the contour lines shaped the narrative of the war against the bozeman trail forts. we have a lot of people that come here that know nothing about the fort or know a little something about the plains indians wars but when they come in and we start to talk about the mainland marks around here, you really see them start to absorb how crucial the artifact that we preserve in wyoming, which is our landscape, that --

w that has shaped werled progression, for example. these wild narratives we have kind of grown up with but maybe haven't truly understood until you get out here and realize what's at the core of this conflict. >> located in traditional native american lands, the fort played a central role in red cloud's war, an armed conflict between native americans and the u.s. from 1866 to 1868. one of three u.s. army insulations situated along the bozeman trail, a shortcut to the gold fields of the west. the form was commanded by colonel henry carrington. >> carington, the colonel who was hired to build the fort. he decided to put the fort in its location where we are today

instead of moving it up north on the tongue river. we've had officials come through that said this is a strategically smart location to pace mr. the fort. it has national -- natural benches and carington has cared -- carried out the shame and dimensions of the fort before he came west. he gets here in july, friday the 13th of 1866 and on his way, red cloud has basically delivered the message to him that he's going to have to fight for every day that the military is here. and it's at that point that carington really realizes how deep he is. ow in over his head he is. wives and children have come out with him. they think they're at peace. but red cloud understands the history of expansion in the west.

there are 562 recognized tribes in north america and by 1866 red cloud has seen and has heard the stories of how all of those trikes have been dispersed throughout north america, so in 1866 when red cloud succeeds in alleying the cheyenne, arapaho and la cota people, he ends up asking them to gather and make a very strong showing against fort phil kearny. we think there was an attempt on december 19 where an ambush -- there were probably 1,500 very disappointed warriors sitting over the ridge then. but for whatever reason on that day, leadership didn't go over the ridge. it ngton said not to defend because he can't see anything from there.

the wood train is attacked, as it usually was. carington said it's the last day they were going to gatherwood wood. in the decoy party, there were six warriors, three from each of the representing drives for the coup that is about to take place. one of them is crazy horse, a very strong warrior and a man with incredibly strong medicine as a warrior. they get the wood train. the infanry goes out. another thing about fort kearny, another nail in their coffin is that their -- they're largely marching everywhere they're going and they're completely worn out for starvation or the effects of scurry and now they're trying to walk to these engage." . the wood train is attacked. that he relieve it and then held to the ridge just north of here about four miles. the cavalry goes out and we

don't know the conversation that happened on lost trail ridge but it's at the core of a lot of separation about what happened on december 21, 1866 but for whatever reason, all 81 mental did decide to go over lost trail ridge. who knows if they fought a small band of warriors thinking they could take them, let's go in. we do know that they were completely surrounded by 1,500 warriors and wiped out in how about half an hour. at that point carington ealizes that red cloud that be incredibly successful in putting together a fighting force. about 1,500 warriors did not come to the fort that day but they were ready to take their lives into their own hands basically if they were overwhelmed. they did not want there to be any survivors so they gathered all women and children and the other men left at the fort.

they gave one poor guy the end of a fuse of a powder magazine and i would -- said if they start coming, we're going to light and it we're all going down with the ship. it's a story of incredible despair from that perspective. for red cloud and his army at the battlefield, it's an incredible victory. successfully gathered in the winter at a time they wouldn't normally fight. worked together with the tribes and completely wiped out a huge part of the abel-bodied section of what's left at the fort by the middle of that first winter. they end up being able to survive through the winter at the fort and by the time he gets through in 1967 they have a garden in. updated rep rip. 1867 ts us to august 2,

and they're a little bit more prepared for red cloud ease -- cloud lease strategy. one morning they hear a shot and realize that maybe there's a fighting force near them. out at the wood cutting camp about four miles west of the fort, where we're at today. they've been cutting it all summer. they've put together a small wagon box corral. laid them on the ground and jammed it full of ammunition for these updated spring-filled rismse that they've put a capacity on. now they don't have to stand up to them. the guys at the confederate battle were fighting with muzz lers, absolutely useless out here. the 800 warriors that had gathered that day at the wagon

box start to attack the wood-cutting camp and all the wood consideraters and people there to protect the wood cutters hook it to the corral. it's a massive shootout for four hours. thousands of rounds of ammo. 2 soldiers and civilians live through that out of 34 and we don't know how many of red cloud's force were casualties that day but there were about 800 that had gathered to fight those 34 in the wagon box corral. the fight lasts about four hours and the post commander is able to get the howitzer out to the corral and that disperses that fighting force but man what a shootout for four house. incredible ingaugement. it's largely uneventful except around the mishes fort.

you have umn of 1876, the signing of the treaty. the fort is abandoned and they are very glad to see them go. when people walk away from fort phil kearny, i hope they have learned how to absorb distance the expansive, wide-open landscape that they've gotten to travel through and just how valuable it is to our quality of life nd to learning what shamed our western history. >> our city tour staff recently traveled to sheridan, wyoming, to learn about its rich history. to watch more video from sheridan and other stops on our to,