Indian Wars

In the time following the Civil War, relations between the settlers and natives intensified.  White Settlers had always faced dangers on the frontier from natives that were protecting their homes.  During the Civil War,  many natives lessoned their raiding parties because of threats from the military.  In addition to this, Many Texans were off fighting in the war and were not able to push westward into Indian Lands as much as before. This helped limit the conflicts seen between natives and settlers.  This doesn’t mean they stopped, just didn’t happen as much as before.

After the Civil War, conflicts intensified again between the two groups.  Federal troops that had been stationed in Texas as part of  Reconstruction worked to fight the natives.  At this point the Comanche, Apache, and Kiowa were the more feared groups and certainly the more aggressive towards the settlers.  We will get a more complete view of these conflicts in class when we look at both perspectives.

This is the time period we see the Buffalo Soldiers arrive in Texas.  They worked to protect the setters from raiding parties and limit the Native’s movement.  After several attempts to remove the natives to reservations in Oklahoma,  some tribes continued the fight and the Federal government decided to do something once an for all.

The last of the major conflicts in Texas between the two groups was what is call the Red River War.  In the 1870’s the federal government decided the waring groups of natives in Texas would either be removed or destroyed.  After the failed attempt to removed some of the Comanche and Kiowa bands, the US Army moves into Palo Duro Canyon and destroyed their stocks of supplies and food.  With an approaching winter and facing starvation, many natives had little choice but to accept the terms and surrender and move back to reservations.

Included in this group was a chief of the Comanche known as Quanah Parker.  Quanah was the son of an Anglo woman named Cynthia Ann Parker who had been kidnapped from her family by the Comanche. Although Quanah Parker had fought the settlers, when the time came for surrender he worked to improve relations between the two groups.

The removal of the native tribes of Texas, was the last act before the ranching industry boomed in Texas.  Much of the land these tribes had lived on was us turned into ranches.