On June 3, the army fearing that the 1,500 Lakota, mostly Brulé, and Arapaho living near Fort Laramie, might become hostile, decided to move them about 300 miles east to Fort Kearny in Nebraska. The Indian protested that Fort Kearny was in Pawnee territory and the Pawnee were their traditional enemies. Moreover, they feared, with reason, there would be no food for them at Fort Kearny. The army insisted and the Indians, with an escort of 138 cavalrymen under Captain William D. Fouts, departed Fort Laramie on June 11. However, on June 13, near present-day Morrill, Nebraska, some of the Indians decided to flee northward across the North Platte River. Attempting to stop them, Fouts and four soldiers were killed.