The Seldom Taught History of the American Indian Wars

America’s longest conflict is also it’s least studied

Natives depicted hunting Bison, (Karl Bodmer)

The American Indian Wars flicker in and out of the American psyche but rarely ever stick around long enough to make an impression. The conflict pops up in popular culture briefly now and then before returning to the ether. Events from the wars are taught in school but never in a coherent way. The individual moments that are studied rarely enforces the fact that these disparate skirmishes on the pages of the textbook were part of one large conflict that spanned nearly 150 years.

Some of the events are easily recognizable. The Trail of Tears. Wounded Knee. Custer’s Last Stand. These moments are particularly dark and bloody events in history that were too stark to ignore safely. However, they are rarely considered as related events in a long and bloody conflict that took a toll on both sides and led to the modern American state.

Quick Stats

The American Indian Wars are the United State’s most protracted conflict to date stretching from 1775, at the beginning of the American Revolution, all the way until 1924. These conflicts occurred alongside and during all of America’s largest wars, including the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and World War I.

There were 40 named conflicts that make up the Indian Wars. Some of them are famous, like the Apache Wars and the Seminole Wars. Most of them have been lost to historical obscurity such as the Ute Wars and the Cayuse War. These skirmishes make up a patchwork of conflict that span three centuries and ultimately shaped and reshaped the American frontier as it expanded coast to coast.

Length: 149 years

Years: 1775–1924

Casualties: Unknown, but estimated to be in the tens of thousands

Result: United States victory and the creation of the reservation system

War Rises in the East

The American Revolution 1775–1783

European settlers came in conflict with First Nation people from the moment they set foot on the shores of North America. From Columbus in the Caribbean to the…