8G History Week 16 Assignment

The Plains Wars were a series of wars during the 1850s through the 1870s. They were fought over the land in the Great Plains. There were many battles and wars included in the Plains wars, but I will be highlighting the beginning and the reasons for the war.

The first conflict broke out over a disagreement about a killed cow! It was fought between part of the Lakota and 30 U.S. military men led by John L. Grattan. He demanded that the Lakota hand over the suspected culprit. The Lakota responded by killing Grattan and all of his men with him! This was the conflict that sparked the start of the war. The Cheyenne and Comanche tribes rallied around the Lakota.

The secession of states and the start of the Civil war drew attention away from the conflict in the plains, but the war was still going strong. The wars finally ended in the late 1870s.

The main reason why the Plains Wars started was because both sides wanted the land.