American Indian Warfare began in the middle of the 16th Century, When the Spanish conquistadors found conflict with the Zuni.  The battles raged on for nearly three and a half centuries, coming to an end at Wounded Knee, where Big Foot's Sioux warriors succumbed to the U.S. Cavalry.

As settlers invaded Native land, many battles were fought, treaties signed, and wars declared.  Relocation of Indian tribes by the white man, also known as Trail of Tears (1830),  also bred conflict;  invasion by other, more predatory  Indian tribes like the Comanche Indians who moved, attacking and taking over territory occupied by  the Crow, the Cherokee, the Creek, the Choctaw, and the Apache.

Some American Indian tribes also sided with the white man in exchange for help in fighting their enemies: 

The Choctaw sided with the Confederates during the Civil war (1860), an alliance which led to Choctaw being the first US Indian tribe to adopt a flag of their own; the flag, carried by the Choctaw Confederate Soldiers.

Colonel George A. Custer's Last Stand, aka The Battle of the Little Bighorn (1898) in represents the last significant American Indian victory in warfare. Cheyenne and Sioux Indians led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull had been repelling white invaders who were prospecting on Indian land: They fought against a U.S. Army expedition, which then led Colonel Custer to launch an attack on their encampment at Little Bighorn.   Custer and his all his men perished in the conflict.

 

More Information on American Indian Warfare

The Journal of Indian Wars

 

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