US ResearchConflictsColonial and Pre-ColumbianDuckfoot Site Raid
Colonial and Pre-Columbian

Duckfoot Site Raid

875
Colorado
Era
Colonial and Pre-Columbian
Year
875
Location
Colorado
Status
Historical record
The Combatants

Who Fought

Forces
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Pueblo I village
VS
Victor
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Unknown raiders
Outcome
Pueblo I village burned and abandoned around 880 CE; human remains show perimortem trauma and were left in burning structure consistent with surprise raid
The Battle

History & Significance

One of the earliest well-documented episodes of Pueblo warfare; demonstrates violence predates the 13th-century crisis by 400 years

Historical context

Indigenous peoples had inhabited North America for at least 15,000 years before European contact, developing complex societies across every region of the continent. The Mississippian culture, centered on the city of Cahokia near present-day St. Louis, reached its peak around 1100 AD with a population estimated at 10,000 to 20,000 — larger than contemporary London. The Ancestral Puebloans built multi-story stone complexes at Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde between the 9th and 13th centuries. The Iroquois Confederacy, formed between roughly 1450 and 1600, united five nations under a constitution that influenced later American democratic thinking. Across the eastern woodlands, the Great Plains, the Pacific Coast, and the Southwest, hundreds of distinct nations maintained sophisticated trade networks, agricultural systems, and governance structures. European contact beginning in the late 15th century introduced epidemic disease — smallpox, measles, influenza — which devastated Indigenous populations by an estimated 50 to 90 percent within a century.

Casualties & Losses

~12 total

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Duckfoot Site Raid take place?
Duckfoot Site Raid took place in 875.
Where was Duckfoot Site Raid fought?
Duckfoot Site Raid was fought in Colorado, United States.
What was the outcome of Duckfoot Site Raid?
Pueblo I village burned and abandoned around 880 CE; human remains show perimortem trauma and were left in burning structure consistent with surprise raid
What was the significance of Duckfoot Site Raid?
One of the earliest well-documented episodes of Pueblo warfare; demonstrates violence predates the 13th-century crisis by 400 years
More from this era

Other Colonial and Pre-Columbian Engagements

Sacred Ridge Massacre
810
Colorado
Wason Park Massacre (Pueblo I)
850
Colorado
Duckfoot Site Early Pueblo Violence
875
Colorado
Sacred Ridge Massacre – Colorado
1030
Colorado
Mancos Canyon Massacre
1100
Colorado
Yellow Jacket Pueblo Violence
1100
Colorado
Dolores River Valley Conflict Sites
1150
Colorado
Mancos Canyon Cannibalism/Massacre Site
1150
Colorado
Cowboy Wash Massacre
1150
Colorado
Grinnell Site Massacre
1150
Colorado
Cowboy Wash Cannibalism/Warfare Site
1150
Colorado
Crow Canyon Area Violence — Loomis Village
1200
Colorado
Rattlesnake Ruin Massacre – Colorado
1200
Colorado
Mesa Verde Cliff Palace Defensive Occupation
1200
Colorado
Sun Temple — Mesa Verde Defensive
1200
Colorado
Hovenweep Castle Defensive Conflict
1200
Colorado
Goodman Point Pueblo Fortification
1200
Colorado
All battles in Colorado
Source

Content adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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