Bozeman Trail Wars
The Bozeman Trail Wars were a series of conflicts between the U.S. military and Native American tribes, primarily the Sioux and Cheyenne, during the late 1860s. Initiated by the U.S. government's attempts to open the Bozeman Trail for white settlers and establish military forts along the route, tensions escalated following a breakdown of negotiations led by Colonel Henry B. Carrington. The Sioux, under the leadership of Red Cloud, opposed the military presence and launched coordinated attacks on the newly established forts, particularly Fort Phil Kearny, which became the conflict’s focal point.
One of the most notable events during this period was the Fetterman massacre, where a detachment of U.S. soldiers was lured into a trap and killed by Native forces. Throughout 1867, battles such as the Hayfield Fight and the Wagon Box Battle highlighted the fierce resistance faced by U.S. troops, who were often outnumbered yet equipped with superior weaponry. Ultimately, recognizing the futility of maintaining the forts in the face of persistent attacks and changing logistical realities, the U.S. military abandoned them. The conflict concluded with the second Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868, which led to a shift for Native tribes toward reservation life, marking the end of the Bozeman Trail Wars.
Bozeman Trail Wars
Date: Summer, 1866-fall, 1868
Place: Montana, Wyoming
Tribes affected: Arapaho, Cheyenne, Sioux
Significance: One of the first instances of Plains tribes uniting to thwart white expansion, proving their ability to pose a significant barrier to that expansion
During the summer of 1866, U.S. government peacekeepers gathered at Fort Laramie along with numerous Sioux leaders, including Young Man Afraid of His Horses and Red Cloud. Their goal was to gain Indian consent to opening the Bozeman Trail to white travelers and allowing the establishment of military posts along it. They purposely obscured their intentions until the arrival of Colonel Henry B. Carrington’s command exposed the deceit (Carrington had presumed that negotiations would be finished before he arrived). Red Cloud wrathfully broke off negotiations and vowed violence against any whites who traveled the route. Regardless, Carrington established Fort Reno on the trail’s southern end on the Powder River, Fort C. F. Smith on its northern end on the Bighorn River, and Fort Phil Kearny between the two. This was the area of the Bozeman Trail wars (the eastern slope of the Bighorn Mountains), the conflict’s epicenter being Fort Phil Kearny.
Indian forces led by Red Cloud soon struck and took control of the region. The forts became islands in a sea of hostility. By the fall of 1866, the Indians had devised plans against Fort Phil Kearny using a decoy tactic requiring uncustomary discipline and coordination on the Indians’ part. On the morning of December 21, the Indians, with roughly 1,750 warriors, lured Captain William J. Fetterman and his command of eighty-one from Fort Phil Kearny with a decoy party led by a young Crazy Horse, surrounded the command, and wiped them out to the last man. This is known as the Fetterman massacre.
The army, determined to command the region, established Fort Fetterman at the lower end of the trail. Nevertheless, the Sioux and Cheyenne controlled the region through persistent attacks, and they literally closed the road. By the summer of 1867, the Indians’ hatred for the forts had swelled, and in July, following their annual Sun Dance, plans were laid to destroy Forts Phil Kearny and C. F. Smith altogether. It was decided that some five hundred to eight hundred Cheyenne would attack Fort C. F. Smith while another thousand Sioux under Red Cloud would strike Fort Phil Kearny. The battles that ensued were the Hayfield Fight, near Fort C. F. Smith, and the Wagon Box Battle, near Fort Phil Kearny. The battles bore remarkable similarities. Both military detachments that were attacked numbered approximately thirty and were severely outnumbered. Both groups also had the new breech-loading Springfield rifles (not muzzle loaders, as had Fetterman’s troops) and were able to repel numerous charges from the Indians while inflicting severe casualties. Even so, Red Cloud and other leaders remained unmoved in their demands for abandonment of the forts as conditions to any treaty agreements. The army finally decided to abandon the forts, realizing their cost inefficiency as well as the fact that the railroads would soon make the road obsolete. As the troops abandoned the forts, the Indians put them to torch. The ensuing treaty agreements ultimately became the (second) Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868). Red Cloud himself submitted to the agreements and to reservation life, thus ending the Bozeman Trail wars.