When the Army came upon bands of Sioux warriors, they didn’t know if they would just be fighting the handful of warriors they saw or if another 5,000 to 7,000 were waiting somewhere they couldn’t see. The Sioux produced some of the most notable names and places in all the Indian Wars, including Little Bighorn, Custer’s Last Stand, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse, to name a few. government, and they weren’t the last, but they might be the most famous. The Sioux were not the first tribe to fight the U.S. Sitting Bull, pictured, was one of the Sioux’s most famous leaders. The Dog Soldiers rallied Cheyenne and Arapaho tribesmen together to wreak havoc on the Colorado ranching industry. In response, the Cheyenne began to fight back, forming different kinds of warrior bands, including the now-famous Dog Soldiers – warriors who would hold their ground, no matter what came at them. Even after most of the Kiowa moved to reservations in 1877, many warrior bands remained loose on the American frontier.Īs more settlers rushed to the Rocky Mountains area, the area began to fill up with heavily-armed militias who would raid neighboring Arapaho and Cheyenne tribal settlements. For 50 years, the Kiowa moved from the central United States westward to join the Comanche in raiding and trading from the American Southwest into Mexico, killing thousands. Still, some fought back, with varying degrees of success.Īn ally of the dreaded Comanche, the Kiowa were usually at war with anyone the Comanche went to war with, including the US Army. The fighting West of the Mississippi claimed countless lives, not to mention the end of the traditional ways for many Native Americans. The fighting on the Plains saw the Battle of Little Bighorn, the massacre at Wounded Knee, and the Sand Creek Massacre, just to name some of the bloodiest moments. Those who did not sell their land were moved by force. government was determined to move the native people to reservations. Though they’re often overlooked by military historians – not Native historians, mind you – the Plains Wars of the post-Civil War era saw some of the most brutal fighting between the American government and the native tribes fighting for their way of life.

List of native american tribes