1622-1924
Indian Wars and Frontier Conflicts
Three centuries of conflict between the US government and Indigenous nations, from the Powhatan Wars through the final Plains conflicts.
23 engagements recorded
Featured engagements
Notable Indian Wars and Frontier Conflicts battles
1850 · CA
Bloody Island massacre
The Bloody Island Massacre occurred in the context of indigenous enslavement and abuse in California...
1862 · MN
Fort Ridgely
In August 1862, the Santee Sioux of Minnesota under Chief Little Crow, angered by the failure of the...
1862 · MN
Wood Lake
On September 19, 1862, Col. Henry Hastings Sibley set out from Fort Ridgely with 1,500 volunteers to...
1863 · ID
Bear River
Shoshoni raids under Chief Bear Hunter during the winter of 1862-63 provoked Federal retaliation. Tr...
1863 · ND
Whitestone Hill
Following Brig. Gen. Henry Hastings Sibley's victories over the Sioux, he left the area, crossing th...
1863 · ND
Stony Lake
Following the Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake, Brig. Gen. Henry Hastings Sibley continued his march afte...
1863 · ND
Big Mound
Brig. Gen. Henry Hastings Sibley led his troops from Fort Ridgely, Minnesota, into the Dakotas, purs...
1863 · ND
Dead Buffalo Lake
Following the Battle of Big Mound on July 24, 1863, Brig. Gen. Henry Hastings Sibley and his men mov...
1864 · CO
Sand Creek
Scattered Indian raids had caused much ill-will between the white settlers and the Native Americans....
1864 · ND
Killdeer Mountain
Brig. Gen. Alfred Sully, who had defeated the recalcitrant Sioux at Whitestone Hill in September 186...
1868 · OK
Battle of Washita River
On November 27, 1868, troops of the 7th U.S. Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer struck B...
1872 · OR
Battle of Lost River
In November 1872, opposing forces clashed at Lost River in what became the opening engagement of the...
1850
Bloody Island massacre
The Bloody Island Massacre occurred in the context of indigenous enslavement and abuse in California. A number of Pomo people had been enslaved by two settlers,...
CA
1862
Fort Ridgely
In August 1862, the Santee Sioux of Minnesota under Chief Little Crow, angered by the failure of the Federal government to provide annuities and by the poor qua...
MN
1862
Wood Lake
On September 19, 1862, Col. Henry Hastings Sibley set out from Fort Ridgely with 1,500 volunteers to put down the Santee uprising. As they neared Wood Lake on S...
MN
1863
Bear River
Shoshoni raids under Chief Bear Hunter during the winter of 1862-63 provoked Federal retaliation. Troops under Col. Patrick E. Connor set out from Ft. Douglas, ...
ID
1863
Whitestone Hill
Following Brig. Gen. Henry Hastings Sibley's victories over the Sioux, he left the area, crossing the James River. The Sioux then recrossed the Missouri River a...
ND
1863
Stony Lake
Following the Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake, Brig. Gen. Henry Hastings Sibley continued his march after the retreating Sioux until he reached Stony Lake, where hi...
ND
1863
Big Mound
Brig. Gen. Henry Hastings Sibley led his troops from Fort Ridgely, Minnesota, into the Dakotas, pursuing the Santee Sioux, who had initiated an uprising in the ...
ND
1863
Dead Buffalo Lake
Following the Battle of Big Mound on July 24, 1863, Brig. Gen. Henry Hastings Sibley and his men moved their camp about four miles and then rested till the next...
ND
1864
Sand Creek
Scattered Indian raids had caused much ill-will between the white settlers and the Native Americans. In the autumn, Territorial (Colorado) officers had offered ...
CO
1864
Killdeer Mountain
Brig. Gen. Alfred Sully, who had defeated the recalcitrant Sioux at Whitestone Hill in September 1863, wintered on the Missouri River. During the winter, Sully'...
ND
1868
Battle of Washita River
On November 27, 1868, troops of the 7th U.S. Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer struck Black Kettle's Southern Cheyenne encampment along the Washita...
OK
1872
Battle of Lost River
In November 1872, opposing forces clashed at Lost River in what became the opening engagement of the Modoc War, fought in the northwestern United States. This a...
OR
1873
Battle of Dry Lake
What happened at Dry Lake, sometimes called Sorass Lake, marked the first time in 1873 that United States forces decisively defeated the Modoc Indians of northe...
CA
1873
First Battle of the Stronghold
On January 17, 1873, forces clashed at what became known as the First Battle of the Stronghold, the second engagement of the Modoc War that spanned 1872 to 1873...
CA
1876
Battle of the Little Bighorn
Fought on June 25 and 26, 1876, along Montana Territory's Little Bighorn River, the clash pitted allied Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors ag...
MT
1877
Battle of the Clearwater
On July 11 and 12, 1877, forces under Chief Joseph clashed with United States troops at what became known as the Clearwater fight, fought within Idaho Territory...
ID
1877
Battle of the Big Hole
Fighting broke out over two days, August 9 and 10, 1877, when soldiers of the United States Army clashed with the Nez Perce in Montana Territory as part of the ...
MT
1877
Bear Paw Mountains
The Nez Perce forded the Missouri River in the vicinity of Cow Island Landing on September 23. This spot served as a drop-off point for steamboats headed to For...
MT
1916
Black Tom explosion
This was an act of German sabotage, not a battle. In the early hours of July 30, 1916, while the United States was still neutral in World War I, a massive serie...
NJ
1929
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Seven men connected to George 'Bugs' Moran's North Side gang were lined against a wall in a Clark Street garage and machine-gunned in the most notorious mass ki...
IL
1933
Union Station Massacre
Four lawmen and their prisoner, convicted bank robber Frank Nash, were shot dead in a burst of gunfire outside Union Station in Kansas City as officers prepared...
MO
1942
Battle of Dutch Harbor
On June 3 and 4, 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched carrier air raids on the U.S. naval base at Dutch Harbor on Amaknak Island in the Aleutians, timed wi...
AK
1942
Bombardment of Fort Stevens
On the night of June 21, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-25, under Lieutenant Commander Akiji Tagami, surfaced near the mouth of the Columbia River and fired its...
OR