When the Civil War began, United States troops stationed along the frontier left their posts and returned to the east. Texas� Confederate volunteers were used to protect the settlers of West Texas until they were called to fight in the east. During the latter half of the Civil War, the Texas frontier went unprotected. Without the security of military troops, Indian raids along the frontier line increased. The raids forced settlers back toward the eastern part of the state.

Following the war, Texas petitioned the United States government for renewed protection on the frontier. The federal government responded by sending soldiers, but they were more interested in enforcing reconstruction measures than they were in protecting frontier settlements. In 1867, the United States Congress sent commissioners to negotiate a peace treaty with the Native Americans. This team of commissioners met with chiefs from the Comanche, Kiowa and Kiowa-Apache tribes at Medicine Lodge Creek in Kansas.

The government wanted the various Texas tribes to move onto reservations in present-day Oklahoma and to end their raids on the Texas frontier. In return for the tribes� cooperation, the government promised to furnish the Native Americans living on the reservation with food, clothing, medicine, doctors, schools, teachers and farming equipment. Many of the chiefs agreed to this proposal, but some members of the Kiowa and Comanche tribes did not. The most outspoken individual opposed to the Medicine Lodge Treaty was a Kiowa chief named Santanta. He bitterly hated the idea of living on a reservation.

As the frontier became more settled, Texans argued over what should be done with the Native Americans on the frontier. Many Texans favored the immediate removal of the Indians, while others believed that camping and hunting on the Texas plains were important parts of Native American life and culture. In 1871, the United States army sent General William Tecumseh Sherman to study the general conditions on the Texas frontier line. Before his arrival, General Sherman strongly believed that Texans on the frontier had greatly exaggerated the threat posed by the Indians.

Sherman soon gained permission to initiate raids against the Indians who refused to live on the reservations. To lead these raids, he chose a young cavalry officer, Colonel Ranald Mackenzie. Colonel Mackenzie, at that time, was the commander of the Fourth Cavalry regiment stationed at Fort Concho, near San Angelo, Texas. Mackenzie and his men, known as Mackenzie�s Raiders, quickly proved to be very effective Indian fighters. With Fort Clark as their headquarters, Mackenzie�s Raiders were involved in several noted battles with the Native Americans living in Texas, including the Battle at Blanco Canyon, the Battle at McClellan Creek and several other battles in the area of Fort Duncan, near Eagle Pass, Texas.

The killing of the buffalo created hardships for the Plains Indians. They no longer had an adequate supply of food. As a result, many of them began to attack the camps of buffalo hunters and the homes of Anglo settlers on the frontier. In June of 1874, a group of 700 Comanche, Kiowa and Cheyenne attacked 28 buffalo hunters at Adobe Walls in the Texas Panhandle, near present-day Borger. Though they had a numerically superior force, the Indians were forced to retreat. The powerful long rifles, or buffalo guns, of the hunters proved very effective against the attacking warriors. The humiliating defeat of the Native Americans only served to escalate attacks against the settlers and hunters.

To put an end to the Indian raids, Colonel Mackenzie led a group of 600 soldiers to Palo Duro Canyon. He attacked five different Comanche settlements located there. Many of the Indians escaped, but the soldiers destroyed their camps, burned their dwellings, took their food and shot more than 1,000 horses. Without food or horses, the Indians had no choice but to return to the reservations. By June of 1875, even the gallant and brave Comanche Chief Quanah Parker led his tired and hungry followers back to the reservation. Following his return to the reservation, Parker decided to embrace white civilization. He was eventually elected Principal Chief of the Comanches and became a wealthy man.

Even after Parker surrendered, other Indians were still raiding areas along the border between Texas and Mexico. Important to the army�s efforts in stopping such Indian raids were the African American soldiers stationed at Fort Davis. These troop, respectfully called "Buffalo Soldiers" by the Indians, were members of the Ninth and Tenth cavalry regiments. They  participated in campaigns against the Mescalero Apaches led by the famous Chief Victorio. Among the ranks of the Buffalo Soldiers was the first black graduate from the United States Military Academy, Henry O. Flipper.

Despite the efforts of Colonel Mackenzie�s men and the Buffalo Soldiers, troubles existed along the Texas-Mexico border until the Mexican army finally killed Chief Victorio in Mexico in 1880. Victorio�s death brought an end to the Indian wars in Texas.

Additional Resources

1. What was the Treaty at Medicine Lodge? Who was the most outspoken critic of the treaty?(7.6:A)
2. What was General Sherman's original belief about the threat posed by Indians and how did it change?(7.6:A)
3. Who was Colonel Ranald Mackenzie?(7.6:A)
4. Why were the buffalo important to the Plains Indians? What impact did the decimation of buffalo herds have on the Plains Indians?(7.6:A)
5. What happened at Adobe Walls in 1874?(7.6:A)
6. What happened at the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon?(7.6:A)
7. Who were the Buffalo Soldiers? What role did they play on the Indian frontier in Texas?(7.6:A)
8. Who was Henry O. Flipper?(7.6:A)
9. What brought an end to the Indian wars in Texas?(7.6:A)