The American Indian Wars - American Wars - TimeLines of Liberty

TimeLines of Liberty
American Wars - Indian Wars

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American History		American Wars	War Statistics

The American Indian Wars
Last updated October, 2005.

Shawnee Wars - Old Northwest Warfare - Tippicanoe - 1812 - Creek - Seminole - Black
2nd Seminole - Navajo - Sioux - Rogue River War - 3rd Seminole - Apache - Modoc - Red River

1776-1777-1778-1779-1780-1781-1782-1783-1783-1784-1785-1786-1787-1788-1789-1790-1791-1792-1793-1794-1794-1795-1796-1797-1798-1799-1800-1802-1802-1803-1804-1805-1806-1807-1808-1809-1810-1811-1812-1813-1814-1815-1816-1817-1818-1819-1820-1821-1822-1823-1824-1825-1826-1827-1828-1829-1830-1831-1832-1833-1834-1835-1836-1837-1838-1839-1840-1841-1842-1843-1844-1845-1846-1847-1848-1849-1850-1851-1852-1853-1854-1855-1856-1857-1858-1859-1860-1861-1862-1863-1864-1865-1866-1867-1868-1869-1870-1871-1872-1873-1874-1875-1876-1877-1878-1879-1880-1881-1882-1883-1884-1885-1886-1887-1888-1889-1890-1891-1892-1893-1894-1895-1896-1897-1898-1899-1900-1901-1902-1903-1904-1905-1906-1907-1908-1909

1776

Shawnee

The Shawnee Indian Tribe had been helping the British in the wilderness against the American settlers. Peace between the Indians and settlers were tenuous at best with each side avenging each death. With the Revolutionary War brewing the British stirred up frontier hostilities. The Shawnee was just one tribe that continued raiding settlements in the frontier.

1776

Shawnee

Daniel Boone rescues his daughter, Jemima and the Calloway girls who had been taken captive by the Shawnee.

1777

Shawnee

Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, his son and some others were killed in 1777 by frontiersmen at Point Pleasant.

1777

Shawnee

Virginia Militia Captain Daniel Boone is wounded when besieged by the Shawnee under Chief Black Fish in April. Daniel's life was saved by Simon Kenton who shot a warrior with tomahawk raised behind Boone's head.

1777

Shawnee

On a Salt finding expedition Daniel Boone is captured by the Shawnee, during the captivity Chief Blackfish adopts Boone.

1777

Shawnee

After five months of captivity Daniel Boone escapes from the Shawnee. Boone travails 4 days through 160 miles of woodlands to warn the Fort Boonesborough settlers of the Shawnee's plans to attack.

1777

Shawnee

Under a large elm tree in Boonesborough the House of Delegates draw and sign a compact agreement between the settlers and the proprietors.

1778

Shawnee

Simon Kenton crossed the Ohio River to sneak into Indian Territory to recover horses that were lost or stolen by the Indians in raids. His first attempt, at a Shawnee village where Paint Creek meets the Scioto River, was very successful.

1778

Shawnee

On one of Simon's horse raids trying to cross the Ohio River with skittish horses and in stormy weather was overtaken by Shawnee warrior Bo-nah and taken captive. Bound on the back of a wild colt he was slammed against trees and dragged through the underbrush when taken back to the Shawnee village Chillicothe.

1778

Shawnee

His reputation as scout and white raider made Simon Kenton a prized captive. He was paraded before the Shawnee Nation enduring unmerciful torture and forced to run 5 different gauntlets (a quarter mile run between two rows of Indians that clubbed and hit along the way). Just having survived the first gauntlet he learns from an African Slave, Ceasar that his fate is to be burned at the stake at a village on the Mad River.

1778

Shawnee

Simon Kenton's torture was witnessed with disapproval by future Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, then only ten years old.

1778

Shawnee

Over two weeks Simon Kenton endured much torture and ran a total of five gauntlets. At the village of Mountha positioned to run his sixth gauntlet he breaks through the ranks of eager tormentors and runs for his life. away from the stunned villagers, to the woods nearby running right into warrior Blue Jacket.

1778

Shawnee

Hours away from his fate with death Simon Kenton is saved by his old friend Simon Girty who was working with the British and allied Shawnee. Girty delivers a convincing argument saving Kenton's life. Kenton's skills of cunning, Strength, courage, and perseverance through adversity along with his unbelievable good luck gave him the impression of being favored by the Great Spirit. Kenton was nammed Cutta-ho-tha, the condemned man, and adopted by into the tribe by a Squaw whose son had been slain.

1778

Shawnee

Touring and learning the lay of the land with Simon Girty for the next few weeks Simon Kenton enjoys freedom among the Shawnee. A falling out occurs and Kenton is again bound and tortured to be executed at the Upper Sandusky British trading post.

1778

Shawnee

On another march of inflicted torment Simon Kenton's arm and collarbone were broken. His captors stop for two days at the Mingo winter hunting lodge of Chief Logan.

1779

1780

British

During the 1780s the British left in the American Wilderness were not a threat to the Indians. The British were primarily fir trappers, although they stirred animosity in the Indians over the Americans who widely settled the regions.

1781

1782

1780

Shawnee

The British military plans to leave the wilderness prompted an intertribal council to determine to eradicate all settlements in Kentucky, while the British help was still available.

1783 - 1784

1785

Shawnee

Two treaties, Treaty of Fort McIntosh and Treaty of Fort Finney, were signed in attempts to restrict the Chippewa, Delaware, Ottawa, Wyandot and Shawnee tribes to the northern part of the Ohio territory, allowing settlement of the remaining two-thirds of the territory.

1786

Shawnee

The Fort McIntosh and Fort Finney treaties failed as tensions increased as the Shawnee held a strong resistance to giving up their land and the land hungry settlers often violated the treaties claiming land above the line established by the treaty.

1787

Shawnee

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had better success at resolving land disputes creating a framework for governing the Northwest Territory and greater enforcement of the treaties.

1787

U.S.

The Northwest Ordinance placed the western lands previously claimed by some of the states in to Federal hands. New York gave up claim in 1781, Virginia in 1784, Massachusetts in 1785 and Connecticut in 1785.

1788

U.S.

The Shawnee continue attacks eventually joining a confederacy of tribes that wage the Old Northwest Warfare that begins in 1790.

1789

Shawnee

The last major Indian attack in Kentucky was against the settlers near today's Middletown and was called the Chenoweth Massacre.

Index

1790

1790

N.W.

The Old Northwest Warfare are the battles between 1790 and 1794 in the Northwest Territory where Ohio and Indiana are now.

1790

N.W.

Brigadier General Josiah Harmar with combined forces of regulars and volunteers marched northward to defeat the threat of the Miami and their allies.

1790

N.W.

In October on the banks of the Maumee River the American Army led by Brig. Gen. Harmar was ambushed by the Indian confederacy led by Little Turtle.

1791

N.W.

Major General Arthur St. Clair was named the first governor of the Northwest Territory in 1791.

1791

N.W.

Maj. Gen. St. Clair led an army from Fort Washington northward near the Wabash River and was ambushed by Blue Jacket leader of an inferior force of Shawnee. Surviving, St. Clair retired the following year.

1792

1793

N.W.

Having taken note that General "Mad Anthony" Wayne spent months of intense training of his troops, Little Turtle, leader of confederacy of tribes, recommended a peace treaty to the confederation. The Shawnee Blue Jacket opposed the recommendation becoming the war leader.

1794

N.W.

On August 20th, after a recent storm had felled many trees, the Battle of Fallen Timbers was fought. The confederacy of Shawnee, Mingo Wyandot, Delaware, Miami, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, and Chippewa warriors massed a count of 1500 warriors. The superior numbers and arms of the U.S. Army, under General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, forced the Indians into a disorganized retreat. Many fled to the British Fort Miami where the British refused entry. 30 soldiers were killed and estimates were 200 Native Indians dead.

1795

N.W.

A year after the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August 1795, The two sides gathered at Greenville, in today's Ohio, and signed a peace agreement called the Treaty of Greenville.
The treaty reaffirmed the boundaries as set forth in the ten year old treaties, the Treaty of Fort McIntosh and Treaty of Fort Finney.

1796

N.W.

After the 1795 Treaty of Greenville relative peace existed between the settlers and the native Indians of the Old Northwest.

1797 - 1798 - 1799

Index

1800

U.S.

William Henry Harrison was governor of the Indiana Territory from 1800 to 1812. His essential duties were to obtain treaties that obtained lands from the Native American Indians. Some tribes resisted with Shawnee Chief Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa, The Prophet, being the most noted.

1801 - 1802 - 1803 - 1804 - 1805 -

1806

U.S.

The first unfurled American Flag in Kansas was raised by an Indian Chief of the Pawnee Tribe.

1807

1808

Shawnee

With little respect for the treaties by the white settlers and from President Jefferson, resentment builds among the Tribes. Shawnee chief Tecumseh, and his brother Tenskwatawa, "The Prophet" promote reform among the Shawnee and begin to end the sale of additional lands and resist the temptations brought by the whites.

1808

U.S.

Lieutenant Zebulon Pike presented himself as a representative of the "White Father" signing treaties as he headed west and eventually discovers the mountain, now called, Pike's Peak.

1809 - 1810

Index

1811

1811

Shawnee

At the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers the Battle of Tippecanoe is fought. Tenskwatawa, The Prophet, brother of Shawnee chief Tecumseh attacks the Territorial governor William Henry Harrison's forces at down. The Shawnees flee after a battle of hand-to-hand combat.

1812

Chief Tecumseh remaining a formidable foe of the American settler allies his warriors with the British in the War of 1812.

1812

Raids by the native Indians were frequent with the beginning of the War of 1812 with losses, among the settlements, heavy. These raids lead to the Creek War in 1813.

1812

The Sioux also fought with the British in the War of 1812.

1813

Creek

A regional sidelight to the War of 1812 was the Creek War that was fought in the areas of Georgia and Alabama. Militiamen under Andrew Jackson brake the fortitude of Creek raiders who had attacked Fort Sims and massacring white settlers in various raids. When defeated they relinquish a vast tract of land.

1813

Creek

in August of 1813 the Creek warriors ignore Red Eagle's (William Weatherford) pleas for restraint as they overrun Fort Mims killing more than 300 settlers and Militia. Fort Mims was a small outpost north of Mobile, Alabama.

1813

Creek

In the fall still recuperating from a gunshot wound received in a brawl Andrew Jackson, in the fall of 1813, raises a militia force of 2000 whites and 1000 Lower Creek and Cherokee warriors.

1813

Creek

Battling a series of draws Jackson stiffens the spines of the soldiers by executing several men who panicked during battle. The action had an immediate positive effect on the men, but becomes political fodder by critics in his later political campaigns.

1814

Creek

The Battle that conclusively ended the Creek War was fought on March 27th near an Upper Creek village on the Tallapoosa River near today's Alexander City, Alabama. After the Creek women and Children have crossed the river Jackson's coalition forces attack nearly wiping out the enemy force. The Upper Creek lost more than 550 warriors while Jackson's coalition lost only 49.

1814

Creek

The resolve of the Upper Creek nation was broken ending the Creek War. The Upper Creek Tribe was forced to give up more than 23 million acres of their land. The were pushed further west and later into the western areas of Arkansas and Tennessee then in 1830 into Oklahoma.

1814

Shawnee

Chief Tecumseh is killed in the Battle of the Thames, the last major action for Kentuckians in the Northwest frontier.

1815

1816

Seminole

American Settlers began attacking the Florida Indians who retaliating by raiding isolated Georgia homesteads. The Americans had thought Spain incited the Seminoles.

1817

Seminole

the First Seminole war was fought in Florida from 1817 to 1818 between The U.S. and the Seminole Native Indian. The war is started by the invasion of eastern Florida by the forces under U.S. Army General Andrew Jackson.

1817

Seminole

A community of runaway slaves and Seminole Indians at "Fort Negro" (Fort Apalachicola) on the Apalachicola River was attacked on July 27th by American troops.

1818

Seminole

General Andrew Jackson's forces on April 7th captured the community of St. Mark's

1818

Seminole

Pensacola was attacked by Jackson on May 24th.

1818

Seminole

The engagement on the Suwannee river, mostly between black warriors and U.S. Soldiers was the largest of the battles.

1818

Seminole

Spain is accused by President Adams of failing to comply with the Pinckney treaty by not controlling the Seminoles; Adams refused to apologize for Jackson's actions.

1819 - 1820

Index

1821

U.S.

The Adams-Onis Treaty between Spain and the U.S. gave formal control of Florida to the U.S. in 1821.

1821

Seminole

The Seminoles are encouraged to join other tribes further west as efforts begin to displace the Seminoles by the U.S. government.

1822 - 1823 - 1824

1825

Sioux

An Agreement with the Sioux assures them control of a region that includes much of "Missouri, Iowa, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

1825

U.S.

Treaties were made with the Kansa and Osage tribes obtained the land used to place eastern Indians that were relocated.

1825

U.S.

Under the "Council Oak" a treaty is signed by the Osage tribe giving a right-of-way for a highway along the "Santa Fe Trail."

1826 - 1827 - 1828 - 1829

Index

1830

U.S.

The Indian Removal Act is approved in 1830. The Act relocated the Chippewa, Delaware, Fox, Iowa, Kickapoo, Miami, Otawa, Pottawatomie, Sac, Shawnee and Wyandot the tribes. The act provided for the treaties and forces to relocate Indians living within any of the states or territories.

1830

U.S.

President Andrew Jackson embraced the removing of the Native American Indians to accommodate the settling of the new lands. Many in Congress were unapologetic considering the Indians to be obstacles to the spreading of a superior civilization.

1830

U.S.

Many treaties with a guaranteed "Forever" were renegotiated with bribes and warfare to reassign the tribes to even less desirable lands west of the the Mississippi River.

1830

Black

Most of the Sauk and Fox had resettled west of the Mississippi River under Keokuk, Black Hawks rival, whose willingness to relocate were welcomed by the U.S. government.

1830

U.S.

William L. Sublette heads the first wagon train along the route to the Rocky Mountains that is now known as the Oregon Trail.

1830

Black

With a reputation of being a thorn in the side of the U.S. government the Sauk and Fox war leader, Black Hawk, outspokenly criticized relocation.

1831

U.S.

The Choctaws sign the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, receiving payment they agree to move to lands in the West in exchange for the ceding of the land east of the Mississippi River. Being the first removal treaty under the Indian Removal Act it was annnounced on February 24th.

1831

Seminole

Some of the Seminole tribes sign the Treaty of Payne"s Landing in May 1832.

1831

Black

Shawnee war leader Black Hawk reluctantly moves to current day Iowa for a short time.

1831

Black

Black Hawk crosses the Mississippi to reclaim their homelands in Illinois. Militia units were summoned and the threat of war was enough to induce Black Hawk to sign the "Corn Treaty" that recognizes the validity of the 1804 agreement.

1832

Black

A harsh winter in a less than desirable environment than their earlier home again revived the sentiment for returning home, among the Sauk and Fox tribes.

1832

Black

Black Hawk led more than 400 warriors and their families across the Mississippi in April, back to their Rock River home where they had planted their corn the previous season before being relocated.

1832

Black

The governor of Illinois called up the militia and also requested regular U.S. Army Soldiers

1832

Black

Tensions escalate in May when a militiaman shoots and kills a Sauk emissary, carrying a white flag of truce.

1832

Black

Black Hawk's warriors, in retaliation for the killing of the emissary, raids the militia encampment in a surprise nighttime attack.

1832

Black

The Black Hawk warriors retreated north into "southwestern Wisconsin" with the militia and regular forces in pursuit.

1832

Black

Black Hawk executed great skill, on July 21st at Wisconsin Heights, avoiding a defeat, although many lives were lost among his already dwindling force.

1832

Black

Under white flag on August 1st, Black Hawk attempts to surrender to forces aboard the steamboat "Warrior" but was fired upon by the suspicious Captain of the vessel. A number of Black Hawk's followers were killed or wounded.

1832

Black

The evening of the surrender attempt Black Hawk decides to continue the retreat northward.
Most of the warriors chose to stay and make a stand.

1832

Black

On August 2nd on the banks of the Bad Axe River the Sauk and Fox were decidedly defeated. Over an eight-hour period the soldiers indiscriminately shot at any Indian fleeing, surrendering or otherwise in view.

1832

Black

Black Hawk takes refuge with the Winnebago Tribe and is later handed over to U.S. forces. He was imprisoned in St. Louis for a time then living out the remainder of his life on tribal lands in Iowa dies in 1838. 70 soldiers and settlers and hundreds of Sauk and Fox died in the conflict in Illinois and Wisconsin.

1833

1834

Seminole

Nearly 4000 Indians had moved west of the Mississippi River. Refusing to leave was the largest faction of Seminoles who were led by chief Osceola. Osceola vows to fight "till the last drop of Seminole blood has moistened the dust of his hunting ground."

1834

Seminole

Osceola was imprisoned for his resistance and later released, only to commence attacks on American settlers.

1835

Seminole

The Second Seminole War was fought from 1835 to 1842. The war was fought with guerrilla tactics by the Seminoles. The Seminoles had 1,400 warriors led by Chief Osceola, only half Indian, who fought against a total of 40,000 soldiers over the term of the war.

1835

Seminole

On December 28th Indian agent Wiley Thompson is killed by Osceola.

1835

Seminole

On December 28th 300 Seminole warriors ambush U.S. forces led by Major Francis Dade near Fort King. (Ocala) The Semonoles retreated to the Everglades.

1836

1837

Sioux

The United States purchased from the Sioux all possessions east of the Mississippi River.

1837

Seminole

The Battle of Lake Okeechobee was a major battle of the Second Seminole War taking place on December 25th. Colonel Zachary Taylor "Old Rough and Ready" commanded the 6th Infantry Regiment of 800 troops against 400 Seminoles. 26 soldiers and only four Seminoles were killed. Colonel Taylor claimed the victory.

1837

Seminole

Becoming frustrated the U.S. arranged Peace talks during a truce in which they double cross and capture Osceola.

1838

Seminole

At Fort Moultrie in South Carolina in 1838 Osceola dies in prison on January 30th.

1839

Index

1840

Seminole

Captain Gabriel J. Rains began to experiment with and implementing the use of the first land mines. His first significant use of land mines was in 1862 at Yorktown and Williamsburg in Virginia, as an officer of the Confederate Army.

1841

Seminole

The Seminole guerrilla tactics had been successful until Colonel William J. Worth begins his successful campaign in 1841 by destroying the Seminole villages and burning their crops and canoes.

1842

Seminole

Threaten with starvation due to the tactics of Colonel Worth the conflict ends on August 14th.

1842

Seminole

The U.S. government's estimates are that the war had cost over 20 million dollars, a very tidy sum in that day. Some 1,500 soldiers had died, most from disease.

1842

Seminole

Those Indians who did not retreat into the Everglades were forced to the Creek lands west of the Mississippi River. 500 Black Seminoles were exiled west with the Seminoles; half of the black runaway slaves were promised freedom in exchange for surrendering.

1843 - 1844 - 1845

1846

Navajo

Americans arrive in Santa Fe in August of 1946 intending to make the territory home. A meeting of American soldiers and Navajo leaders in November agreed upon the Bear Springs Treaty. Continued and various quarrels with American soldiers only provoked hostilities by the Navajo.

1847

U.S.

In April the Kaw (Kansa) Indians are moved to a new 20 mile reservation near Council Grove.

1848

U.S.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2nd ends the Mexican War with Mexico ceding Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California. The Navajo Homeland was located within the ceded lands.

1849

1849

Navajo

Ongoing skirmishes between the soldiers and the Navajo called the Navajo Conflicts begins in 1849, continuing utill it leads to their incarceration on an inhospitable reservation far from home in 1863.

Index

1850

Rogue

In the early 1850s the southwestern Oregon Indians had already relinquished the bulk of their lands by treaty. Enduring the aggression of the Oregon Trail and California Gold Rush the Rogue River tribes put up stiff resistance.

1850

U.S.

Fort Atkinson was built by Lieutenant Colonel Edwin Vose Sumner in August near today's Dodge City to control the Indians and protect the Santa Fe Trail. The army post was constructed with sod.

1851

Rogue

Due to the Resistance by the Rogue River tribes the U.S. Army begins to inflict punitive assaults against the native Indians.

1851

Navajo

Fort Defiance was erected in Navajo territory being the first U.S. fort built in what becomes Arizona Territory 12 years later. Its obvious mission was to subdue the Navajo tribes, made up of about 50 clans.

1851

Navajo

Attempts were made by the Americans to relocate the Navajo to a reservation with failed attempts as the Navajo refused, still being an undefeated force claiming ownership of the land.

1851

Sioux

The U.S. acquires more land from the Sioux in 1851. Attacks and Counterattacks continued, increasing when White settlers pushed west into Sioux lands.

1852

1853

Rogue

The 1853 treaty was signed near the Table Rocks of southwest Oregon Territory.

1853

Ute

The Walker War was a series of raids in the Mormon settlements that resulted in President Abraham Lincoln ordering the forceful placement onto the Uintah Valley Reservation.

1853

U.S.

Reluctanly in the summer U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, George M. ManyPenny negotiated treaties that took back much of the land that prior treaties had assigned as "forever."

1854

Sioux

Sioux is the short version of Nadouessioux. They were Plains Indians dependent upon the buffalo. The Sioux Wars Trying to maintain their hunting grounds under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, the Sioux resisted the waves of prospectors and settlers who indiscriminately shot the buffalo. The ensuing encounters are known as the Sioux Wars, from 1854 to 1890.

1854

U.S.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in May and signed by President Franklin Pierce. Kansas Territory was opened for settlement, primarily to open the country to the Transcontinental railways.

1854

Sioux

Confrontations had occurred from the beginning of the century with treaties in 1815,1825 and 1851.

1854

Sioux

The first significant confrontation was in Wyoming near Fort Laramie; 19 soldiers were killed.
Five chiefs of the conglomerate tribes called the Rogue River Tribe signed the treaty with General Joseph Lane and other representatives of the United States. Chief Sam, or Ko-Ko-Ha-Wah (means wealthy) signed the treaty with an X.

1855

Rogue

The Rogue River Treaty of 1853 was ratified by the Senate in April and signed by President Franklin Pierce in April, 1955. The treaty established a temporary reservation near the Table Rocks. As was the usual case the people were impoverished by the relocation.

1855

Rogue
U.S.

The proposed hostilities were opposed by Oregon Superintendent of Indian Affairs and General John E. Wool, commandeer of the Pacific Coast U.S. Army. General Lane the territorial delegate in Washington was a heavyweight with the Democrat majority and pushed for war. he anticipated remuneration for war claims.

1855

Sioux

In revenge for the confrontation near Fort Laramie in 1854 U.S. soldiers kill 100 Sioux in their Nebraska camp taking the chief prisoner.

1855

Rogue

The Rogue River War was fought from late 1855 into 1856. This war was not fought for land but for the economics of the mining community.
- Background begins on 1850.

1855

Rogue

In October a mob of men, from the mining town of Jacksonville in the Rogue River valley southwest of Oregon Territory, in an unprovoked attack killed 28 or more Indians in an encampment near the Table Rock Reservation.

1855

Rogue

The October massacre and serveral subsequent attacks on Rogue River valley Indians were organized to spark a war to employ miners as paramilitary "volunteers." Many miners were left unable to work the mines due to a long dry spell.

1855

Rogue

Some of the Tribe chose to succumb and be placed under the protection of Captain Andrew Smith's regular troops at Fort Lane.

1855

Rogue

Those among the tribe who chose to fight joined with Chief (John) Tecumtum of the Etch-ka-taw-wah tribal band taking up camp in the Coast Range. They had been effectively repelling the Army assaults with the most noted being at the end of October, the Battle of Hungry Hill.

1856

Rogue

The protected Indians at Fort Lane moved in January to the Grand Ronde Reservation in northwestern Oregon.

1856

Rogue

Tecumtum brings the fight down from the mountains along the Rogue River to the Pacific Coast. It is believed to find food after the harsh winter. They nearly cleared the coast of non-Indians.

1856

Rogue

In May Tecumtum came under attack from two directions.

1856

Rogue

Regular army troops moved up along the coast from Crescent City in California, meeting with little opposition. Most of the warriors submitted to the unit's commander believing they would be protected from the more vicious volunteer army.

1856

Rogue

The volunteer army came down the Rogue River and at Big Meadow attacked the unarmed warriors who had already surrendered to the regular U.S. army.

1856

Rogue

A final resistance is put up by the Indians following Tecumtum at Big Bend on the river, they nearly defeat the regular troops who were guarding the prisoner of war camp.

1856

Rogue

Close to 1000 Indians were forced from Table Rock to walk to the Silentz and Grand Ronde reservations that are located west of today's Salem, Oregon. There was resistance to the move as many believed they would be allowed to stay at Table Rock.

1857

1858

Seminole

The Third Seminole War was the final clash between white settlers and the Seminole Indians in 1858. The conflict ends on May 7th with the the main Seminole leader, Billy Bowlegs, having only 40 warriors left alive; in total less than 200 Seminoles were left in Florida.

1858

Seminole

On May 7th Colonel Loomis commander of the Florida forces announced an end to American hostilities. The announcement was the U.S. government's abandonment of efforts to remove the remaining Seminoles; 200 - 300 Seminoles remained in Big Cypress and other secluded areas of Florida, having never surrendered.

1858

Navajo

60 head of livestock, shot by U.S. soldiers, were owned by the tribe and discovered by Navajo Chief Manuelito. He confronts the commander at Fort Defiance telling him the land belongs to the Navajo and not the U.S.Army.

1858

Navajo

In defiance to Chief Manuelito the Army with 160 paid Zuni warriors attack Manuelito's village setting it on fire and burning his fields. Manuelito begins to ralley other Navajo leaders to war in a resolve to drive the soldiers off Navajo lands.

1859

Index

1860

Navajo

1000 Navajos attack Fort Defiance and nearly overruning it are forced a retreat by the superior gunfire.

1860

Navajo

After the attack on Fort Defiance the U.S. declares "total war" against the Navajos.

1861

Apache

The Apache Attacks were fought from 1861 until 1900 in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Mexico - Apaches under Geronimo, Cochise, Mangas Coloradas, and Victorio conducted hundreds of attacks on outposts.

Geronimo finally surrendered in 1886; others fought on until 1900.
Geronimo, Cochise

1861

Apache

The Apache Indians had been rebelling against U.S. policy to relocate and those who did detested reservation life. The Apache resolved to live as before the whiteman, or die trying.

1861

Apache

During the Civil War with U.S. troops deployed elsewhere the Apache in small parties would assault white outposts in surprise attacks.

1861

Apache

Cochise was chief of the southwest nomadic central band of Chiricuhua Apaches. Cochise had been on good terms with settlers in the Arizona Territory until 1861.

1861

Apache

When some of Cochise's family was hung by U.S. soldiers for an offense they did not commit, Cochise became outraged. Cochise organized his braves into war parties.

1861

Apache

For ten years Cochise led his warriors on brutal warpath against white settlers in the area deploying shrewd and audacious strategy in the skirmishes with U.S. soldiers.

1862

Sioux

Chief Little Crow begins insurrections in Minnesota killing hundreds of settlers in the area of New Ulm until being defeated by the U.S. Army. Many of the survivors join other factions of their tribe.

1862

Sioux

Through the rest of the 1860s whites were held at bay and off Sioux lands by Red Cloud and other strong Sioux leaders.

1863

Navajo

1863

Navajo

Using a "Scorched Earth Policy" U.S. forces under Kit Carson wage a full scale campaign rounding up 8000 Navajos. He drove them off the lands by destroying crops, orchards, livestock then poisoned the wells and burned all structures. Thousands of Navajo ran to the Canyon de Chelly where Carson's forces built a blockade at entrance to the canyon and fired upon anyone trying to leave.

1864

Navajo

Kit Carson waited out the winter with the Navajo pinned in the Canyon de Chelly without food supplies. In March the army rounded up thousands of starving Navajo Indians.

1864

Navajo

The "Long Walk" where many Navajo died or were killed was forced on them by Carson's forces. The Navajo were made to walk to a Bosque Redondo at Fort Sumter in New Mexico and confined to the reservation until 1868.

1864

U.S.

Jim R. Mead is the first white to settle at Wichita and opens the first trading post at the site.

1865

Ute

The Ute Wars were fought in Utah over four year beginning in 1865. The Mormon settlers were ruthless in overtaking Ute lands and using up resources and wildlife.

1865

Ute

Starving Ute Indians began to rally around a youthful Ute brave, Black Hawk. Black Hawk had been provoked and wound up killing 5 Mormons escaping with hundreds of cattle.

1865

Ute

Black Hawk began to organize members of the Ute, Paiute and Navajo tribes into a loose coalition to pillage the Mormon settlers across their lands.

1865

U.S.

Jesse Chisholm blazes the Chisholm Trail to the Red River with goods to trade with the Indians for buffalo hides.

1865

U.S.

In April Fort Dodge is built by the 11th Kansas Cavalry under Captain Henry Pierce, to protect the Santa Fe Trail.

1865

Apache

A dozen Apache braves leave the reservation covering 1200 miles on horseback killing 40 settlers and steeling more than 200 mules and horses. The Apache renegades were chased by U.S. soldiers but eventually reaching relative safety in Mexico.

1865

U.S.

In September the 48th Wisconsin Infantry, under Captain Adolph Whitman, builds Fort Aubrey at the head works of Spring Creek.

1865

Apache

The U.S. government changes the policy to cripple the tribes giving orders to "kill every Indian man capable of bearing arms and capture the women and children." Some leaders survived capitulating with the Army to live out their lives peacefully on reservations. Other bands continued fighting until the end of the century.

1865

U.S.

Fort Fletcher was built in October as a military post to defend the various military routes, The U.S. Mail and the Union Pacific Railroad construction crews.

1866

Sioux

Red Clouds War was a one year conflict between the Sioux and Americans that ended with a treaty giving possessions of the Black Hills in South Dakota to the Sioux. It was, however, not recognized by the U.S. government.

1867

Red River

The Treaty of Medicine Lodge relegated the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kataka and Kiowa to various reservations in Oklahoma and Texas. Having been dependant upon the buffalo for survival the tribes became dependent upon the white man's patronage.

1867

U.S.

Fort Fletcher was renamed Fort Hays in 1866 then relocated in July 1867.

1867

Red River

130 settlers are killed in the height of the Indian Attacks in Kansas.

1868

Navajo

A new treaty is made that allows the Navajo a reservation on their former homelands that was established at Four Corners (The only place in the U.S. where four states intersect at one point; Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.). The tribe was also provided cattle and sheep and in return consent to live in peace with the American settlers.

1868

Ute

After a lengthy struggle that exhausted both the Ute Indians and Mormon settlers, a treaty was signed in 1868.

1868

Red River

In September, 1000 Cheyenne surround Colonel George A. Forsyth at Arikaree Creek, a fork of the Republican River five miles west of the northwest corner of Kansas. The U.S. Army suffered heavy losses.

Sioux

The 19th Kansas Cavalry is ordered in to fight in the Indian Wars.

1869

Sioux
Red River

Indian Raids on Northwest Kansas are conducted by the Sioux and the Cheyenne.

Index

1870

Sioux

The Sioux territory was inundated by prospectors and miners looking for gold throughout the 1870s.

1870

Modoc

Chief Kintpuash (Captain Jack) leads some of his people off the reservation into California. When they refused to relocate the U.S. tries to force them back which leads to the Modoc War in 1872.

1871

Apache

Cochise surrendered in 1871 to flee to the mountains with several hundred of his people when ordered to relocate his tribe to a New Mexico Territory reservation.

1871

Apache

Thomas Jeffords, a white man who had befriended Cochise in 1862 leads Indian Commissioner General O.O. Howard to Cochise's mountain hideout for talks. An agreement is made and his band settles on a new reservation in southern Arizona for the Chiricahua tribes.

1872

1872

Modoc

The Modoc War in Northern California and Southern Oregon was fought from 1872 to 1873. Captain Jack and followers fled the wasteland reservation to the lave beds of Tule lake.

1872

Modoc

U.S. Soldiers pursue the Modoc Indians to Tule Lake where the lava beds and caves provided fortification for Captain Jack and his poorly armed band of 150 Indians to hold out against the U.S. Army for six months.

1873

Modoc

Unable to over take the small band of Modoc Indians at Tule Lake, the soldiers forces are enlarged to 1000 troops by March.

1873

Modoc

During peace talks the Modocs kill General E.R.S. Canby and Eleazer Thomas. The U.S. Army steps up the fighting to overpower the Modoc.

1873

Modoc

Down to only 30 braves Captain Jack surrenders. He and three others are Hanged. Others are sent to the Klamath and Quapaw reservations.

1874

1874

Red River

The Red River War is fought from 1874 to 1875 in northwestern Texas. William T. Sherman led a campaign of more than 14 battles against the Arapaho, Comanche, Cheyenne and Kiowa tribes, who eventually surrender.
Background 1867

1874

Red River

In June Indians who had slipped away from reservations attacked a buffalo hunter camp of 30 men. The assault cost many warriors lives as the hunter's long range rifles were superior weapons. Bat Masterson was among the hunters. This incident precipitated the Red River War.

1874

Red River

General William T. Sherman with the aid of General Philip Sheridan in the fall leads the infantry and cavalry against the renegades in a tug-of-war of 14 battles. The strategy was to give the renegades no chance to rest. Half starved and defeat in sight most surviving warriors are returned to their reservations and the leaders placed in irons and imprisoned in Florida.

1874

Apache

Cochise died on the reservation in southern Arizona in 1874. Having been kept secret, his burial place was never found.

1875

Sioux

During the mid 1870s Brigadier General George Crook commands the Sioux to move to a reservation and is resisted by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Agitated by unjustified assaults Sitting Bull gives notice, "We are an island of Indians in a lake of whites... The soldiers want war. All right, we'll give it to them!"

1876

Sioux

In the spring the U.S. Army takes to the field against the Lakota (Sioux) and Cheyenne. Those tribes had not returned to the reservations in the Dakotas and Nebraska, after the 1875 fall negotiations to acquire the sacred Black Hills, failed. The army intended to gather up the Sioux and Cheyenne forcing them onto the reservations.

1876

Sioux

After Scouts report a concentration of Lakota and Cheyenne at Rosebud Valley, Brigadier General George Crook moves 1050 troops and 260 Crow and Shoshone scouts north to the valley in Montana territory.

1876

Sioux

on June 17th, Crazy Horse with 1000 warriors of Sioux and Cheyenne, in a surprise attack, assaults Crook's force along Rosebud Creek. The battle split into three skirmishes over uneven ground. Many acts of bravery were observed on both sides. One account has a Cheyenne girl rescuing her brother after his horse had been shot out from under him. The Americans call the encounter the "Battle of the Rosebud" while the Cheyenne referred to it as "Where the Girl Saved Her Brother."

1876

Sioux

The Battle of the Rosebud was the largest confrontations of the Indian wars. The battle ends with forces commanded by General Crook being turned back and the cutting off of reinforcements that may have aided General Custer at Little Bighorn.

1876

Sioux

General George A. Custer leading 225 troops joined with the regiment commanded by General Alfred H. Terry. On June 17th smoke was seen by scouts that reported the probability of an Indian encampment. Ignoring the orders of General Alfred H. Terry, Custer decides to assault the Indian camp without waiting for infantry support.

1876

Sioux

On June 25th the village is spotted about 15 miles away in a valley by the Little Big Horn River. The scouts gave high estimates of the number of warriors but Custer ignored them believing his force of 647 men could easily round up 1000 Indians. The encampment was a coalition of tribes that actually numbered between 2500 and 5000 warriors. It was the largest assembling of hostile tribes during the western wars.

1876

Sioux

Arriving at the Little Bighorn River Custer orders an immediate attack on the encampment. Dividing his regiment into three columns led by Captain Frederick W. Benteen who was ordered to the left to search the valleys for Indians, another under Major Marcus A. Reno who sent across the rive to attack the village, and himself who advanced to the right onto higher ground. It is believed Custer intended to attack the Village from the side or rear.

1876

Sioux

Reno retreats and joins with Benteen to take up a defensive position to hold off the Indians. Five miles away in the valley and first fighting on the bluffs Custer and his 225 men are all killed by the superior number of warriors under Crazy Horse.

1876

Sioux

Reno and Benteen hold the position until General Terry arrived on June 27th. Retaliation by General Terry was swift, scattering the Lakota. Crazy Horse was captured and while under guard was murdered.

1876

Sioux

The Sioux break into bands to more easily evade capture. A few surrender while some were caught by the army. Some escape with Sitting Bull's band escaping to Canada.

1876

Apache

The Chiricahua reservation was closed and the Apaches were moved to the barren San Carlos reservation in New Mexico.

1876

Apache

Geronimo leads followers into Mexico where he establishes well concealed hideaways in the Sierra Madre Mountains. He dispatches raids from the mountain security for the next nine years.

1877

Nez Percé

Nez Percé War Oregon, Idaho, Montana After fighting to keep their home in Wallowa Valley, Chief Joseph led his people on a 1,500-mile retreat to Canada. They surrendered near the border to Nelson Miles' soldiers.

1877

Nez Percé

The Nez Percé was a particular tribe of the Shahaptin nation. French-Canadian trappers called them the Nez Percé, probably because of the nose ornaments some natives adorned.

1877

Nez Percé

President Ulysses S. Grant opened the Nez Percé homeland, Wallowa Valley to white settlement requiring all Nez Percé bands move to the Lapwai reservation in Idaho.

1877

Nez Percé

A meeting between Chief Joseph and one armed Brigadier General Oliver O. Howard was dominated by the General with a 30 day deadline to comply or else by use of force. Reluctantly the Nez Percé bands began to move to the reservation.

1877

Nez Percé

Tension built among some young Nez Percé warriors who executed unauthorized raids killing settlers along the way. Chief Joseph hid the firebrands knowing that retribution would follow. Chief Joseph prepares for the inevitable war.

1877

Nez Percé

at White Bird Canyon in Idaho a quickly assembled battalion marched on the main Nez Percé encampment. Using tactics Chief Joseph learned in his youth watching U.S. soldiers his force of 300 braves fight off the army.

1877

Nez Percé

Knowing his warriors could not battle Brig.General Howard's full army Chief Joseph flees.

1877

Nez Percé

Waging several battles against Howard then later in the summer against Colonel Nelson A. Miles Chief Joseph escapes southeast through Montana then across Yellowstone in Wyoming. Outmaneuvering 10 units of soldiers Chief Joseph travels more than 1500 miles.

1877

Nez Percé

40 miles from the Canadian border and safety Chief Joseph stops for a well deserved rest near Bear Paw Mountains in Montana.

1877

Nez Percé

Brilliantly forcing his troops on a 160 mile trek to catch up to the Nez Percé Colonel Miles orders an attack on September 30th.

1877

Nez Percé

Over 5 days the Nez Percé fought the troops to a draw, however, after their ponies were stampeded and with reinforcements led by Howard closing in, Chief Joseph surrenders.

1877

Nez Percé

"I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed.... The old men are all killed.... It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food; no one knows where they are, perhaps freezing to death. I want time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs, I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." - Chief Joseph's surrender oration as recorded.

1877

Nez Percé

Assured the Nez Percé would be returned to an area of their homelands in Oregon, the agreement is broken when political pressure sends them to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.

1878

Ute

Indian agent Nathan Meeker resolved to transform the Ute Indians from "horse riding savages" into pious hand to the plow farmers.

1878

U.S.

The Buffalo that the Plains Indians had been dependent are low in numbers and are near extinction. The white man hunt or simply shoot the Buffalo for sport leaving the carcasses to waste.

1878

Cheyenne

The Northern Cheyenne are led in rebellion from the confinement and starvation of the Indian Territory reservation in Oklahoma by Chiefs Dull Knife and Little Wolf.

1878

Cheyenne

The trek to the homelands of Yellowstone by the Northern Cheyenne come to a head at Ladder Creek (Beaver Creek) when 284 braves, women and children dig rifle pits where the warriors make their last stand against the U.S. Cavalry.

1878

Cheyenne

The last battle between Soldiers and Warriors in Kansas was at the site now called Squaws Den Battleground.

1878

Cheyenne

Indian raids in Western Kansas continued into 1878 ended with the last raid in Decatur County.

1879

Ute

The final Ute outbreak in Colorado was when Nathan Meeker ordered a Ute pony racetrack be plowed. The Utes retaliated killing Meeker and his 10 employees. They captured and held Meeker's family for two weeks. "The Utes must go," was the cry throughout Colorado. U.S. Army forces imposed a treaty on the Utes and relocated them to Utah's Ouray reservation.

Index

1884 - 1883 - 1882 - 1881 - 1880

1884

U.S.

Haskell Indian Nations University is established in 1884 in Lawrence, Kansas.

1885

Nez Percé

Some of the Nez Percé are allowed to move to the Lapwai Reservation in Idaho from the Indian Territory in Oklahoma.

1885

Nez Percé

Chief Joseph and some others were sent to the Colville Reservation in northeast Washington. Joseph dies in 1904 and is buried on the Colville tribal lands.

1886

Apache

Geronimo surrenders after a raid in March to General George Crook who imposed a treaty to relocate the Chiricahua to Florida. Geronimo escapes two days later.

1886

Apache

Geronimo again surrenders in September to Crook's replacement, General Nelson A. Miles. Other Apache leaders fight on until 1900.

1886

Apache

In violation of an agreement the Apache warriors were incarcerated in Florida without their families. They were later moved to Alabama and finally to Fort Sill in Oklahoma Territory.

1886

Apache

Geronimo attempts several escapes and tries to convince the government to send him to Arizona without success. During his remaining time at Fort Sill he became a successful farmer.

1889 - 1888 - 1887

Index

1890

Sioux

Fearing another conflict Brigadier General Nelson A. Miles orders the capture of Sitting Bull. Living on the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota Chief Sitting Bull was confronted and when he resisted Indian policemen used force killing him in the process.

1890

Sioux

Big Foot takes command of the last band of Sioux warriors.

1890

Sioux

Big Foot is trapped by U.S. troops at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota and his band of warriors wiped out in the fighting called the Battle of Wounded Knee.

1891 - 1892 - 1893 - 1894 - 1895 - 1896 - 1897 - 1898 - 1899 - 1900 - 1901 - 1902

Index

1903

Apache

The great Apache leader converts to Christianity and enrolls in the Dutch Reformed Church. His new beliefs pretty much curbed the Apache resistance struggle leaving a scant few to carry on the fight.

1904

Apache

Geronimo appears at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis becoming a national figure.

1905

Apache

Geronimo is included in the inaugural process for Theodore Roosevelt in 1905.

1906 - 1907 - 1908

1909

Apache

Geronimo dies on February 17th. In 1913 his followers who were still living were released with some settling in Okalahoma and others on the Mescalero Apache reservation in southern New Mexico.

Index

Sources

World War II
1919 - 1938 - 1939 - 1940 - 1941
1942 - 1943 - 1944 - 1945 - 1946 - 2004

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