The Comanche and other tribes on the…

The Comanche and other tribes on the Great Plains had lived a wide ranging nomadic existence before the arrival of American settlers.

Beginning in the 1830s, significant numbers of permanent settlements had been established in what had previously been the exclusive territory of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Attacks, raids, and counter-raids occur frequently.

Prior to the Civil War, the U.S. Army was only sporadically involved in these frontier conflicts, manning forts but only occasionally striking outside of them.

During the Civil War, the military had withdrawn almost completely and native raids had increased dramatically.

After the war, the military had begun reasserting itself along the frontier.