The Ponca Curse

It is a cold winter night in 1863, and a group of soldiers stationed at old Niobrara saddle up and ride out to rape the Indian women at a Ponca camp near the Bazile Creek. Thwarted, the next day they track down the fleeing Ponca band, killing four and wounding three - all females. With this, the Ponca shamans, and an old Xube squaw sorceress, cast a curse on all the whites in the valley. Author Danny Liska deals with the tragic events which subsequently befouled the beautiful Niobrara and Verdigris valleys, and meticulously peels back the layers of the community most affected by the curse: Niobrara, Nebraska, his home town.