The quarrels between the United States government and various indigenous peoples continue in Oregon and Washington Territories with the ongoing Cayuse War (1848-55), the Rogue River Wars (1855-56), and the Yakima Wars (1855-58); in Florida with the third Seminole War (1855-58); in the northern Plains with the Sioux; and in the Southwest with the Navaho and Apache War of 1860-65.

The United States Army battles the Navajos and Apaches in the Southwest and the Comanches in Texas throughout the late Eighteen-Fifties and early Sixties.

Outlaw Navajos (called ladrones, Spanish for thieves), as well as other natives, and their neighboring New Mexicans, have raided, killed and enslaved each other since they had lived side by side during Spanish rule.

A lull had taken place in the 1850s under the jurisdiction of Captain Henry Kendrick, commandant of Fort Defiance in northeast Arizona, and Henry Dodge, the government agent, but after Dodge disappeared in late 1856, and Kendrick was transferred to another post, the raids resumed.

With the withdrawal of many troops at the start of the Civil War, New Mexicans have become more outspoken and demanded that something be done.

Overall command of Union forces in the Department of New Mexico falls to Colonel Edward R. S. Canby of the Regular Army’s 19th Infantry, headquartered at Ft. Marcy in Santa Fe.

Christopher "Kit" Carson, an experienced Indian fighter, with the rank of Colonel of Volunteers, commands the third of five columns in Canby’s force.

Colonel Canby has devised a plan for the removal of the Navajo to a distant reservation and sent his plans to his superiors in Washington D.C., but he had been promoted to general and recalled east for other duties.

His replacement, Brigadier General James H. Carleton, believes there is gold in the Navajo country, and that the Navajo and the Apache should be driven out to allow its development. (Sides, Hampton, Blood and Thunder, Doubleday, 2006. pp. 329-331) The immediate prelude to Carleton's Navajo campaign had been to force the Mescalero Apache to Bosque Redondo.

Carleton’s orders to Colonel, on October 12, 1862, concerning the Mescalero Apaches: "All Indian men of that tribe are to be killed whenever and wherever you can find them: the women and children will not be harmed, but you will take them prisoners and feed them at Ft. Stanton until you receive other instructions". (Kelly, Lawrence, Navajo Roundup, Pruett Publications, 1970; p. 11)

Carson had been appalled by this brutal attitude and refused to obey it, accepting the surrender of more than a hundred Mescalero warriors who sought refuge with him.

Nonetheless, he had completed his campaign in a month.

When Carson learned that Carleton intended him to pursue the Navajo, he had sent Carleton a letter of resignation dated February 3, 1863.

Carleton refused to accept this and used the force of his personality to maintain Carson's cooperation.

In language similar to his description of the Mescalero Apache, Carleton had ordered Carson to lead an expedition against the Navajo, and to say to them, "You have deceived us too often, and robbed and murdered our people too long, to trust you again at large in your own country. This war shall be pursued against you if it takes years, now that we have begun, until you cease to exist or move. There can be no other talk on the subject." (Sides, p. 344.)

However, it is largely Canby's proposed plan, written from a position of relative neutrality and created in hopes of defusing the situation, that Carleton and Carson ultimately carry out.

Under Carleton's direction, Carson institutes a scorched earth policy, which coerces the Navajo to surrender.

Most corn fields are used to feed his horses, and some fields are destroyed.

Carleton had insisted that livestock is not to be used for personal use.

To carry out his orders, Carson had asked that the government recruit Utes to assist him.

He did not personally cut down the orchards; he was aided by other Native American tribes with long-standing enmity toward the Navajos.

Carson was pleased with the work the Utes did for him, but they went home early in the campaign when told they could not confiscate Navajo booty.

Carson has difficulty with New Mexico volunteers as well.

Troopers desert and officers resign.

There are no pitched battles and only a few skirmishes in the Navajo campaign.

Carson rounds up and takes prisoner every Navajo he can find, to force them to go to Bosque Redondo, also called Fort Sumner.

Gulf and Western North America (1864–1875 CE): Reconstruction, Conflict, and Change

Post-Civil War Reconstruction

Following the American Civil War (1861–1865), the Reconstruction era begins as the United States seeks to reintegrate and rebuild the South. Initially aiming to restore unity and heal divisions, the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in April 1865 reignites tensions between the North and South. Republicans in Congress push aggressively to ensure civil rights and protections for African Americans, efforts that persist until the Compromise of 1877, when federal protections are withdrawn in exchange for political concessions.

Epidemics and Health Crises

The spread of cholera and typhus continues to devastate populations during this period. Cholera outbreaks in the 1870s claim approximately fifty thousand lives, spreading from New Orleans along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Typhus epidemics also strike cities such as Baltimore, Memphis, and Washington, DC, between 1865 and 1873, exacerbating postwar social and economic challenges.

Indigenous Displacement and Military Conflict

Indigenous peoples face ongoing displacement and conflict. In the Southwest, the United States Army battles the Navajo and Apache (1860–1865). On the Great Plains, the United States intensifies efforts to confine Native tribes to reservations. The Treaty of Medicine Lodge (1867) attempts to restrict the Comanche, Kiowa, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Apache tribes to smaller lands, promising protections that ultimately fail to materialize. In response, the Comanche under Isa-tai launch the Second Battle of Adobe Walls in 1874, suffering a decisive defeat. This leads to the Red River War, culminating in the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon, where the last independent Comanche bands, led by Quanah Parker, surrender in 1875.

The Decline of the Plains Buffalo

During this period, the systematic slaughter of buffalo herds reaches catastrophic levels, significantly undermining the traditional ways of life for Plains tribes, especially the Comanche, Kiowa, and Sioux. Within a decade, the once-massive herds are nearly extinct, dealing a severe blow to indigenous economies and cultures dependent on buffalo hunting.

Pawnee and Osage Struggles and Alliances

The Pawnee play crucial roles as scouts for the U.S. Army between 1864 and 1877, notably participating in conflicts against traditional rivals, including the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and Kiowa. Their service is pivotal during the Powder River Expedition (1865) and the Great Sioux War of 1876. Meanwhile, the Osage tribe endures severe hardships, caught between Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War, experiencing significant famine and instability as their lands continue to be reduced through treaties.

Railroads and Western Expansion

The completion of transcontinental railways following the Civil War accelerates westward migration, economic expansion, and conflict with indigenous populations. Railroads facilitate increased settlement, trade, and migration to formerly remote areas, profoundly transforming the regional economy and accelerating the displacement of native tribes.

Key Historical Developments

• Reconstruction efforts reshape the postwar South but falter due to political compromise.

• Severe cholera and typhus epidemics devastate populations throughout the 1860s and 1870s.

• The Comanche and other Plains tribes resist confinement but ultimately suffer military defeat and displacement.

• Near-extinction of buffalo herds severely impacts Plains indigenous cultures and economies.

• Pawnee scouts actively assist the U.S. Army in military campaigns against rival tribes.

• Rapid railroad expansion accelerates westward migration and intensifies conflicts with indigenous peoples.

Long-Term Consequences and Historical Significance

The period from 1864 to 1875 is marked by dramatic changes across Gulf and Western North America. Reconstruction efforts, despite initial promise, fall short in securing lasting civil rights. Meanwhile, indigenous populations endure significant losses of land, autonomy, and traditional livelihoods, setting the stage for profound economic and cultural transformations that shape the region's future.

Over three hundred Navajos die making the journey from their home lands to the Bosque Redondo reservation, a forty-square-mile (one hundred square kilometer) area where over nine thousand Navajo and Mescalero Apaches have been forced to live because of accusations that they have been raiding white settlements near their respective homelands.

The fort is named for General Edmond Vose Sumner.

The U.S. Army had fought the Navajos and Apaches in the Southwest and the Comanches in Texas throughout the late 1850s and early 1860s..

On October 31, 1862, Congress had authorized the creation of Fort Sumner.

General James Henry Carleton had initially justified the fort as offering protection to settlers in the Pecos River valley from the Mescalero Apaches, Kiowa, and Comanche.

He has also created the Bosque Redondo.

The stated purpose of the reservation is for it to be self-sufficient, while teaching Mescalero Apaches and Navajos how to be modern farmers.

General Edward Canby, whom Carleton has replaced, had first suggested that the Navajo people be moved to a series of reservations and be taught new skills.

Some in Washington, D.C. had thought that the Navajos did not need to be moved and a reservation should be created on their land.

Some New Mexico citizens have encouraged death or at least complete removal of the Navajo off their lands.

General Carleton had ordered Col. Christopher "Kit" Carson to do whatever necessary to bring first the Mescaleros and then the Navajos to the Bosque Redondo.

All of the Mescalero Apache were there by the end of 1862, but the Navajo do not get there in large numbers until early 1864.

The Navajos refer to the journey from Navajo land to the Bosque Redondo as the Long Walk.

About eighty-five hundred Navajo and five hundred Mescalero Apaches are interned at Bosque Redondo in April 1865.

The Army had only anticipated five thousand would be here, so food has been an issue from the start.

The Navajo and Mescalero Apache have long been enemies and now that they are in forced proximity to each other, fighting often breaks out.

The environmental situation gets worse.

The interned people have no clean water, it is alkaline, and there is no firewood to cook with.

The water from the nearby Pecos River causes severe intestinal problems and disease quickly spreads throughout the camp.

Food is in short supply also because of crop failures, Army and Indian Agent bungling, and criminal activities.

The Mescalero Apaches, or those strong enough to travel, manage to escape in 1865.

Corn production had been sufficient in 1865 and 1866, but it had been much less than adequate in 1867.

Army officers and Indian Agents realize that the Bosque Redondo is a failure, offering poor water and too little firewood for the numbers of people who are there.

The Navajos have stayed a few years longer than had the Mescalero, but in May 1868 are permitted to return to a portion of their former homeland, where they rejoin thousands of their fellows, who have avoided imprisonment through hiding on Black Mesa or elsewhere in the vicinity.