Chusto-Talasah was a Civil War engagement fought in Oklahoma, 1861. It was a Confederate victory.
Following Chief Opothleyahola and his Union force's defeat at Round Mountain, he retreated northeastward, in search of safety. On December 9, 1861, the force was at Chusto-Talasah, or Caving Banks, on the Horseshoe Bend of Bird Creek when Col. Douglas H. Cooper's 1,300 Confederates attacked Chief Opothleyahola around 2:00 pm. Chief Opothleyahola knew Cooper was coming and had placed his troops in a strong position at Horseshoe Bend. For almost four hours, Cooper attacked and attempted to outflank the Federals, finally driving them east across Bird Creek just before dark. Cooper camped there overnight but did not pursue the Federals because he was short of ammunition. The Confederates claimed victory. Chief Opothleyahola and his band moved off in search of security elsewhere. Although the Confederates had gained a victory, they would win a resounding one later in the month at Chustenahlah.
On December 9, 1861, Confederate and Union forces clashed at Chusto-Talasah, a site also called Bird Creek, Caving Banks, and High Shoal, located in present day Tulsa County, Oklahoma, which was Indian Territory at the time. This engagement marked the middle chapter of the three-part campaign known as the Trail of Blood on Ice, waged for dominance over Indian Territory during the Civil War.
Throughout that December, harsh weather accompanied a string of clashes pitting Confederate-aligned Cherokee and Choctaw fighters against Creek and Seminole warriors loyal to the Union, the latter under the command of Muscogee Creek chief Opothleyahola. After suffering defeat at Round Mountain, Opothleyahola led his Union-aligned force northeast in hopes of reaching safer ground. By December 9, they had reached the Horseshoe Bend area of Bird Creek, at a place called Chusto-Talasah or Caving Banks. There, around two in the afternoon, Colonel Douglas H. Cooper struck with 1,300 Confederate troops. Anticipating the assault, Opothleyahola had already positioned his men advantageously within dense timber along the bend.
The fighting stretched on for nearly four hours, with Cooper's men pressing forward and attempting to flank their opponents. Just before nightfall, they succeeded in forcing the Federal-aligned fighters back across Bird Creek. Cooper's troops set up camp there for the night, but a shortage of ammunition kept them from pursuing further. While the Confederates declared the day a win, some accounts instead credit Opothleyahola's warriors with repelling the assault. Whatever the true outcome, Opothleyahola and his followers pressed onward, still searching for a secure refuge. Cooper placed their losses around 500, though other estimates put the figure closer to 412. On the Confederate side, casualties amounted to 15 dead and 37 injured.
Whether or not this fight amounted to a slight tactical edge for the Confederacy, a far more decisive triumph awaited them later that month at Chustenahlah.
Today the site of the Chusto-Talasah fight lies on privately held ground close to 86th Street North and Delaware Avenue, roughly five miles northwest of Tulsa. A granite marker standing on the east side of Sperry, Oklahoma, indicates the battle location as nine miles to the northeast-southeast of that spot.
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