The former governor of New York, John Alsop King, had collapsed while giving a speech at a Fourth of July celebration in Jamaica, Long Island, reportly while uttering the words "old men like me are passing away." He died at his home three days later from the effects of this stroke.  He had been a Whig member of Congress and had served as governor between 1857 and 1858 as a Republican.  He was seventy-nine years old.  (By John Osborne)

A war-party of Cheyenne and Lakota Sioux warriors attacked the stagecoach station at Pond Creek in Kansas. Company G of the Seventh Cavalry under Captain Albert Barnitz rode from nearby Fort Wallace in relief and drove them off.  Barnitz reported heavy casualties among the hostiles but also six killed in action and six wounded amongst his own men.  One of these was Sergeant Frederick Wyllyams, an immigrant from England, whose severely mutilated corpse was the subject of a famous propaganda photograph widely circulated in the East.  (By John Osborne)

Two settlers named Carley and Doherty were attacked near their hut on Plum Creek in present day Ellsworth County, Kansas, about twelve miles from the U.S. Army's Fort Harker.  Reportedly, Carley was severely wounded in the first exchange of gunfire but the two were able to hold off the attack.  Doherty was able then to fetch help from the town of Ellsworth but Carley had died by the time this help arrived. (By John Osborne)

The ninety-first anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is celebrated across the United States and its territories.  (By John Osborne)