families had fled.

"Every once in a while, historians are guided
too much by a particular account of a war or an incident," Allinger said.
"As archaeologists, we put the proof in the pudding. We find the fact behind
the theory. When those facts don't match the theory, it's time for a new
theory."

In response to the initial Indian raid, military
units from Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas were amassed in February
1874. Almost two dozen battles, including the Lyman ambush, took place
in the canyons in the following months.Allinger's work revealed that most of the
combat involved what experts call running battles - a fight in which one
of the forces is in constant retreat.

"The Indians knew the canyons like the backs
of their hands, while the soldiers had only the vaguest idea of where they
were," Allingersaid. "The Indians retreated into rough areas in many of
the battles."

The soldiers, on the other hand, apparently
had high-powered weapons. Allinger's team found the massive, 9-inch-long
shells of the "Perrot Rifle," which historians now call the "grenade launcher
of the late 1800s" and the telltale bullets of at least two Gatling guns
- history's first rapid-fire, bunker-style weapon.

"We've found things we just never expected,"
said Panhandle Plains Historical Museum curator Rolla Shaller, 61. "It's
kind of silly to think that the Indians could have seen the Gatling gun
and still felt like they had a chance to win. That doesn't really make
any sense."

Allinger said the Indians had firearms, but
limited ammunition. "Could you imagine, fighting against soldiers with
a Gatling gun when all you have is a bow with arrows?" she said.

Allinger also says she has found