Mine Creek Battlefield

-Main Ford over Mine Creek-

Continue following the trail south and you will soon come to Trail Marker 8.

Main Ford Over Mine Creek

Now you are standing at the main ford over Mine Creek. If the water is not too deep you will be able to see that the creek has a rocky bottom.

But remember that on October 25, 1864, there had been wet weather and the creek was high and roiling. Mine Creek is a small stream but the ford along the Fort Scott road was difficult and dangerous. Both banks were steep (10 to 25 feet) and treacherous. The ford had a rocky bottom but the far side bank was steep and was now slippery after most of Price's wagon train had already gotten across. There were two other fords but they both had muddy bottoms and were not passable by wagons during wet weather. The main reason that Marmaduke had established his defense line north of the creek was because a large part of the wagon train had still not been able to get across the creek. Around 11:00 a.m. Marmaduke had found that the Mine Creek crossing was blocked. Because of the heavy rains the creek was a raging torrent. The two available fords were backed up with over 100 wagons still trying to get across. To further complicate matters, a wagon had overturned and was now blocking the main ford.

After the Federal cavalry charge broke through the Confederate lines, units from Benteen's Brigade were able reach Mine Creek and block the fords. This added further to the confusion and disarray of the retreating Confederates who had difficulty escaping across the creek because of the steep banks.