After the Fetterman Fight, the Indians dispersed into smaller groups for the 1866-1867 winter. Conflict subsided for the season. Wessells and his men at Fort Phil Kearny had a difficult time through the winter. Food was short, most of the horses and mules died from lack of forage, and scurvy was common among the soldiers. He cancelled plans for a punitive winter campaign against the Indians. In April, Indians began raids along the Oregon Trail in the North Platte River valley. Journalist Henry M. Stanley, (later achieving fame in Africa), said, "Murders are getting to be so tame from their plurality, that no one pays any attention to them."