From January 28 to February 2, the Indians embarked on a great raid along the valley of the South Platte River. The Cheyenne raided west of Julesburg, the Northern Arapaho near Julesburg, and the Sioux east of Julesburg, destroying a dozen or more ranches and stagecoach stations along of the river valley and accumulating a large herd of captured cattle. Near Valley Station (present day Sterling, Colorado), the Cheyenne had a brush with soldiers. Illustrating the difference in accounts between soldiers and Indians, Lt. J. J. Kennedy said that his force had a battle with the raiders and killed 10 to 20 Indians and recovered 400 stolen cattle. George Bent said it was a minor skirmish in which no Indians were killed or wounded and the only cattle the soldiers recovered were the ones the Indians had abandoned as too poor to steal. During the raid, the Cheyenne encountered a group of nine former soldiers. They killed all nine of them and discovered two Cheyenne scalps in their luggage from the Sand Creek massacre. Although soldiers and ranchers claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties on the raiders, Bent said he knew of only four Indians who were killed during the raids. Three were Sioux who were killed while attacking a wagon train and one was an Arapaho who was killed accidentally by a Cheyenne.