The Red River War is a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874, as part of the Comanche War, to remove the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Native American tribes from the Southern Plains and forcibly relocate them to reservations in Indian Territory.
The actions of 1874 are unlike any prior attempts by the Army to pacify this area of the western frontier.
Lasting only a few months, the war sees several army columns crisscross the Texas Panhandle in an effort to locate, harass and capture highly mobile Indian bands.
Most of the engagements were small skirmishes in which neither side suffered many casualties.
The war winds down over the last few months of 1874 as fewer and fewer Indian bands have the strength and supplies to remain in the field.
Though the last significantly sized group won't surrender until mid-1875, the war marks the end of free roaming Indian populations on the Southern Plains.
