Major Battles of the Great West

By Kmetz19

  • The Sand Creek Massacre

    The Sand Creek Massacre
    The Sand Creek Massacre was a massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the U.S. Army. This battle happened because of a long conflict for control of the Great Plains of eastern Colorado. With the use of small arms and howitzer fire, the troops drove the people out of their camp. 700 Native American were killed and 150 plus were women and children.

  • The 7th Cavalry

    The 7th Cavalry
    This was a cavalry regiment and the official nickname is “Garryowen.” The founder was George Armstrong Custer. The regiment marched a total of 181,692 miles across Kansas, Montana, and the Dakota Territories. Custer switched up his armies and made them even smaller and attacked the Natives. Custer and his men were defeated and massacred.

  • Red River War

    Red River War
    The Red River War was located in the Great Plains. This was a Military Campaign that was launched by the U.S. Army to displace Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Native Americans tribes from the Southern Plains. Basically the Texans wanted the Indian Tribes moved and located on reservations.

  • The Great Sioux War of 1876

    The Great Sioux War of 1876
    This was also known better as the Black Hills War. The battle was between the Lakota Sioux and the Northern Cheyenne and the U.S. This battle happened because the U.S. government wanted to obtain ownership of the Black Hills. The area this all happened with in the Montana and Dakota Territory. This was a United States victory.

  • The Battle of Little Bighorn

    The Battle of Little Bighorn
    This battle has referred to as Custer’s Last Stand. Custer had only brought 210 men to help fight with him, little did he know there were over 1,000 Indian men waiting for him. This battle ended very badly for the U.S. because all of our men were gunned down and couldn’t go anywhere. This was obviously a great victory for Lakota, Nothern Cheyenne, and Arapaho.

  • Wounded Knee Massacre

    Wounded Knee Massacre
    This was the final chapter of the long Indian wars that happened to kill three hundred Lakota people in South Dakota. A fight had broke out between a U.S. soldier and a Indian. During the fight a gun shot went off and it’s still unclear which side shot the fire.