In a series of treaties in the 
late 1860s, representatives of 
many western tribes promised to 
settle their people on 
reservations.  The wars that 
followed were fought to force 
tribes onto reservations they 
had supposedly already accepted 
or to return them to 
reservations that they had fled 
once they discovered the harsh 
realities of life there.  The 
Regular United States Army 
fought 943 actions in a number 
of disconnected bickerings.


 Sioux and Northern Cheyenne War

One of the most spectacular of 
these conflicts was with the 
Sioux and Cheyennes of the 
northern Plains from 1876 
through 1877.  The uprising 
was led by Chief Crazy Horse 
and Sitting Bull.  Brigadier 
General George Crook mounted a 
surprise attack along the 
Powder River.  Crook, 
outnumbered and short of 
supplies, was forced to retire.  

After refitting, Crook caught 
up with Crazy Horse at Rosebud.
After stopping Crook and aware 
that another column was 
converging on them, Crazy Horse 
withdrew his forces.  Crook, 
trying to force the battle, 
sent another column led by 
George Custer to pursue the 
Native Americans while the 
other column led by Alfred 
Terry caught up.  Custer split 
his regiment into three columns.
Crazy Horse waited for the 
center column and wiped them 
out to the last man at Little 
Big Horn.  

The next year with two light 
artillery guns, Nelson Miles 
shelled Crazy Horse's village.  
Crazy Horse surrendered shortly 
afterward.   


         Nez Perce War

Under Chief Joesph, the Nez 
Perce tribe defied Government 
orders to leave their rich 
homeland.  At White Bird Canyon,
Chief Joesph defeated a small 
Army detachment that was trying 
to herd his tribe onto a 
resveration in Idaho.  

Continuing eastward, Chief 
Joesph was pursued by soldiers 
led by Oliver Howard.  Howard 
caught up with the Nez Perces 
at the Clearwater river and was 
replused.  In the Big Hole 
Basin, Chief Joesph and his 
tribe were surprised by a force 
led by John Gibbon.  Rallying 
his men, Chief Joesph and his 
men surrounded and besieged the 
attackers, only to withdraw 
when Howard and his men came 
up.  Now trying to escape, 
Chief Joesph eluded or fought 
past the Army forces converging 
on him.  

At Eagle Creek, Nelson Miles 
and Howard bought his tribe to 
bay.  After four days of 
fighting a numerically superior 
foe, Chief Joesph and his tribe 
surrendered.


        The Red River War

The Red River War of 1874-75 
finally brought peace to the 
southern Plains and Texas as 
Kiowas, Comanches, Cheyennes, 
and Arapahoes accepted life on 
reservations.  

Other encounters were the Modoc 
war of 1872-73 (in the 
California lava beds), the 
Bannock-Paiute uprising of 1878 
in Idaho and Oregon, and the 
Ute outbreak of 1879 in western 
Colorado.  The long and bloody 
Apache wars of New Mexico and 
Arizona closed in 1886 when 
Geronimo surrendered for the 
last time.  Wounded Knee, the 
tragic clash of reservation 
Sioux with Federl troops in 
1890, marked the end of the 
Plains Wars.