Across The Fence: Massacre Canyon

On July 2, 1873, a hunting party of Pawnee left their reservation near Genoa, Neb., on the Loup River. It was customary for the Pawnee to mount an organized buffalo hunt in the early summer and late fall of each year.

Since their confinement to the reservation in east central Nebraska, these hunts were supervised by a sub-agent from the reservation that was chosen by the tribal council and approved by the agency. In the summer of 1873, John W. Williamson, a young and inexperienced sub-agent, was selected for the job.

Williamson was a young farmer who had been hired to instruct the Pawnee in fa...