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Sand Creek
Cheyenne and Arapaho forces met and fought with the local militia throughout the whole summer of 1864. The Cheyenne chief, Black Kettle, was tired of the fighting. On the way to make peace, his group camped along Sand Creek. The men were always hunting while the women and children stayed with the chief at camp. Then U.S. Army colonel John M. Chivington and 700 troops arrived at the camp. Black Kettle tried to make peace right there but the troops opened fire, killing mostly women and children. -
Rosebud
Sitting Bull, leader os the Sioux, had a vision that soldiers would decend upon the camp along the Rosebud Creek and they all would die. That is exactly what happened, the American Indians rode off to fight the U.S. troops heading their way. Although the Indians did not achieve an outright victory, it raised their confidence to fight them once more. -
Little Bighorn
Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and about 600 troops reached the American Indian camp. Custer ordered an immediate attack. The men split into three groups to surround the camp, but the Cheyenne were ready. Two Moons, the Cheynne's new cheif after the death of Black Kettle, described the battle as being an obvious victory for them as Custer's men only lasted an hour. The battle of Little Bighorn was over when Custer and his men lay dead around the camp. -
Skeleton Canyon
Geronimo, the Apache cheif, and less than 40 Apaches surrendered to General Nelson Miles. Geronimo's surrender marked the end of the wars in the Southwest. Almost all the Apaches were imprisoned in Florida where they remained prisoners of war until 1913. 200 out of the 300 Apaches were set free after the war. Geronimo died in 1909.
