Sioux Indian Wars

 

Sioux Warriors by James Ayers

Sioux Warriors by James Ayers

First Sioux War – 1854-1855

Grattan Fight – August 19, 1854, Wyoming

Battle of Ash Hollow – September 3, 1855, Nebraska

Dakota War of 1862, Minnesota

Battle of Redwood Ferry – August 18, 1862, Minnesota

Battle of Lower Sioux Agency – August 18, 1862, Minnesota

Battle of New Ulm – August 19-23, 1862, Minnesota

Battle of Big Mound – July 24-25, 1863, North Dakota

Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake – July 26, 1863, North Dakota

Battle of Stony Lake – July 28, 1863, North Dakota

Battle of Whitestone Hill – September 3-5, 1863, North Dakota

Battle of Killdeer Mountain – July 28-29, 1864, North Dakota

Colorado War – 1863-1865

American Ranch Massacre – January 14, 1865, Colorado

Sand Creek Massacre– November 29, 1864, Colorado

Battle of Julesburg – January 7, 1865, Colorado

Battle of Platte River Bridge – July 26, 1865, Wyoming

Battle of the Badlands August 7, 1864

Powder River War – July 1-October 4, 1865, Wyoming and Montana

Crazy Woman’s Fork – August 13, 1865, Wyoming

Battle of Bone Pile Creek – August 13, 1865, Wyoming

Powder River Massacre – August 16, 1865, Wyoming

Battle of Tongue River  – August 29, Wyoming

Sawyers Fight  – September 1, 1865, Wyoming

Powder River Battles – September 1–15, 1865, Montana

Battle of Honsinger Bluff – August 4, 1873, Montana

Battle of Pease Bottom – August 11, 1873, Montana

Red Cloud’s War – 1866-1868, Wyoming and Montana

Cazeau Wagon Train, Wyoming – July 17, 1866

Crazy Woman Creek – July 20, 1866

Fetterman Massacre, Wyoming – December 21, 1866

Overland Route Attacks, Wyoming – Summer, 1867

Wagon Box Fight, Wyoming – August 2, 1867

Hayfield Fight, Montana – August 1, 1867

Bozeman Trail Battles – Fall, 1867

Great Sioux War – 1876-1877, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota

Battle of Powder River – March 17, 1876, Montana

Battle of Prairie Dog Creek – June 9, 1876, Wyoming

Battle of Warbonnet Creek – July 17, 1876, Nebraska

Battle of Rosebud Creek – June 17, 1876, Montana

Battle of the Little Bighorn – June 25, 1876, Montana

Battle of Slim Butte – September 9, 1876, South Dakota

Battle of Cedar Creek – October 21, 1876, Montana

Dull Knife Fight – November 25, 1876, Wyoming

Battle of Wolf Mountain – January 8, 1877, Montana

Battle of Little Muddy Creek – May 7, 1877, Montana

Ghost Dance War

Wounded Knee Massacre – December 29, 1890 – South Dakota

Sioux Indians on Horseback, by Heyn, 1899

Sioux Indians on Horseback, by Heyn, 1899

 

The Sioux Wars were a series of conflicts between the United States and various bands of the Sioux people which occurred in the latter half of the 19th century.

Sioux warriors assisted the British during the American Revolution as well as the War of 1812 and made their first treaty with the United States in 1815. Numerous treaties would follow, giving the tribe control of a vast region that encompassed much of what is today Missouri, Iowa, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Over the years, their landholdings would be reduced by more treaties.

The earliest conflict came in 1854 when a fight broke out near Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Attacks and counterattacks followed for the next several decades as white settlers pushed westward and encroached westward upon Sioux lands. The fighting wouldn’t end until the final incident in 1890 during the Ghost Dance War.

 

There was a time when the land was sacred,
and the ancient ones were as one with it.
A time when only the children of the Great Spirit
were here to light their fires in these places with no boundaries…
In that time, when there were only simple ways,
I saw with my heart the conflicts to come,
and whether it was to be for good or bad,
what was certain was that there would be change.

-The Great Spirit

The siege of New Ulm, Minnesota by Henry A. Schwabe

The siege of New Ulm, Minnesota by Henry A. Schwabe

 

Sioux Wars Map, courtesy Wikipedia

Sioux Wars Map, courtesy Wikipedia

“This war did not spring up on our land, this war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land without a price, and who, in our land, do a great many evil things… This war has come from robbery – from the stealing of our land.” – Spotted Tail

 

Battle of the Little Bighorn by C.M. Russell

Battle of the Little Bighorn by C.M. Russell

 

“One does not sell the land people walk on.”  – Crazy Horse, September 23, 1875

The Charge of Crazy Horse by by Z.S. Liang, Greenwich Workshop

The Charge of Crazy Horse by Z.S. Liang, Greenwich Workshop

 

Compiled by Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated February 2020.

Also See:

Indian War Campaigns and Battles

Indian War List and Timeline

Lakota, Dakota, Nakota – The Great Sioux Nation

Winning The West: The Army In The Indian Wars