Red River War

Red River War
Part of the American Indian Wars

A Kiowa ledger drawing possibly depicting the Battle of Buffalo Wallow in 1874, one of several clashes between Southern Plains Indians and the U.S. Army during the Red River War.
Date1874–75
Location
Southern Plains
Result United States victory; end of the Texas–Indian wars
Belligerents
 United States Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho

The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874 to displace the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes from the Southern Plains, and forcibly relocate the tribes to reservations in Indian Territory. The war had several army columns crisscross the Texas Panhandle in an effort to locate, harass, and capture nomadic Native American bands. Most of the engagements were small skirmishes with few casualties on either side. The war wound down over the last few months of 1874, as fewer and fewer Indian bands had the strength and supplies to remain in the field. Though the last significantly sized group did not surrender until mid-1875, the war marked the end of free-roaming Indian populations on the southern Great Plains.