when the Kiowas repelled Kit Carson." Carson was well known by all the Indians of the Southern Plains. The battle left the Comanche and Kiowa unchallenged in their control of the Texas Panhandle until the Battle of the North Fork of the Red River eight years later. Most authorities believe that Carson's decision to retreat was wise and that he deserves credit for a good defense. He was outnumbered, and only his clever use of backfires and the howitzers prevented his force from being overrun and killed as Custer was 9 years later at the Little Bighorn. The number of Indians engaged against Carson in this battle has been estimated as high as 3,000, but that is likely an exaggeration. The total number of warriors possessed by the Comanche, Kiowa and Kiowa Apache probably did not total anywhere near 3,000. As the Kiowa village consisted of 176 lodges and the Comanche village of about 500 lodges, it is unlikely that the total Indian force numbered more than two fighting men per lodge or 1,300. As it was, Carson left six dead and 25 wounded, including one Indian scout killed and four wounded, while he estimated that the Comanche and Kiowa suffered approximately 50–60 deaths and as many as 100 wounded. The official U.S. Army report on the battle, however, estimated an Indian loss of a total of 60 killed and wounded. Given the long-distance nature of the fighting the estimate of Indian casualties can only be a guess. Only one Comanche scalp was reported taken by Carson's soldiers. Epilogue The First Battle at Adobe Walls would be the last time the Comanche and Kiowa forced American troops to retreat from a battlefield, and it marked the beginning of the end of the plains tribes and their way of life. A decade later the Second Battle of Adobe Walls was fought on June 27, 1874, between 250–700 Comanche and a group of 28 hunters defending the settlement of Adobe Walls. After a four-day siege, the Indians withdrew. The Second Battle is historically significant because it led to the Red River War of 1874–75, resulting in the final relocation of the Southern Plains Indians to reservations in what is now Oklahoma. Historical marker In 1964 the Texas State Historical Survey Committee erected Historical Marker 1690 to preserve the memory of the First Battle of Adobe Walls. The marker is not located at