Indian Wars

The Indian Wars were a series of conflicts between the United States and Native American peoples ("Indians") of North America. The wars, which ranged from colonial times to the Wounded Knee massacre and "closing" of the American frontier in 1890, collectively resulted in the conquest of American Indian peoples and their decimation, assimilation, or forced relocation to Indian reservations.

West of the Mississippi (1861–1890)

• Apache and Navajo Wars (1861–1886) – After Col. Christopher "Kit" Carson kills or relocates many Apache to reservations in 1862, skirmishes between the U.S. and Apaches continue until 1886, when Geronimo surrenders.
• Sioux Uprising (1862) – Skirmishes in the southwestern quadrant of Minnesota result in hundreds of dead. In the largest mass execution in U.S. history, 38 Dakota who were involved are hanged. About 1,600 others are soon sent to a reservation in present-day South Dakota.
• Red Cloud's War (1866–1868) – Lakota chief Makhpyia luta (Red Cloud) conducts the most successful war against the U.S. during the Indian Wars. By the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), the U.S. granted a large reservation to the Lakota, without military presence or oversight, no settlements, and no reserved road building rights. The reservation included the entire Black Hills.
• Colorado War (1864–1865) – Clashes centered on the Colorado Eastern Plains between the U.S. Army and an alliance consisting largely of the Cheyenne and Arapaho
• Sand Creek Massacre – John Chivington kills almost 150 surrendered Cheyenne and Arapaho.
• Modoc War (1872–1873) – 53 Modoc warriors under Captain Jack hold off 1000 men of the U.S. Army for 7 months. Major General Edward Canby was killed during a peace conference, becoming the only general to be killed during the Indian Wars.
• Red River War (1874–1875) – between Comanche and U.S. forces under the command of William Sherman and Lt. Gen. Phillip Sheridan
• Black Hills War (1876–1877) – Lakota under Tatanka Iyotake (Sitting Bull) and Tasunka witko (Crazy Horse) fight the U.S. after repeated violations of the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868).
• Battle of Rosebud (1876) – Lakota under Tasunka witko defeat U.S. Army column moving to reinforce Custer's 7th Cavalry.
• Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876) – Sioux and Cheyenne under the leadership of Tatanka Iyotake (Sitting Bull) and Tasunka witko (Crazy Horse) defeat the 7th Cavalry under George Armstrong Custer.
• "End of the Indian Wars": Massacre of Wounded Knee (December 29, 1890) – Tatanka Iyotake's half-brother, Big Foot, and some 200 Sioux are killed by the U.S. 7th Cavalry. (Only thirteen days before, Tatanka Iyotake had been killed with his son Crow Foot in a gun battle with a group of Indian police that had been sent by the American government to arrest him.)