The Battle of Red River
Wayside, Armstrong County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the opening battle of the U.S. Army's 1874 Indian campaign against the Southern Plains Indian Tribes, a force of 744 soldiers under Col. Nerlson A. Miles fought a 5-hour running battle with the Cheyenne, Comanche and Kiowa 10 mi. E. of this location. The army had been pursuing the bands for several days. The battle marked the first use of the Gatling Gun by the army west of the Mississippi River. Though the army destroyed several Indian villages, they failed to capture any of the Indiaans or force them back to reservations in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Known today as the Red River War, the campaign against the Indians resulted in their ultimate removal from the Texas panhandle.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1874 the U.S. Army launched a sweeping campaign to force the Southern Plains tribes onto reservations, and it opened here with a grinding five-hour running fight. Colonel Nelson Miles's column of 744 men pursued Cheyenne, Comanche and Kiowa bands across the Panhandle, in a clash that saw the Army's first use of the Gatling gun west of the Mississippi. Though warriors slipped away, the destruction of their villages helped end free Native life on the southern plains.
Why it matters
The Red River War broke the power of the Southern Plains nations and cleared the Texas Panhandle for ranchers and settlers—a decisive, sobering turn in the nation's westward story.
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Related people
- · Col. Nelson A. Miles
Related events
- · Red River War
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Battle of Palo Duro Canyon
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Col. John I. Gregg 1872 Battle Site
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After the Civil War, waves of settlers pushed west onto the Great Plains and clashed with the Native nations who lived there, prompting Army campaigns against the Southern Plains tribes. In 1872 Colonel John I. Gregg led Eighth Cavalry troops from New Mexico into West Texas hunting raiders, and on August 16 they skirmished with Kiowas near this spot. That fight, with the later Red River War of 1874-75, drove the subjugation of the Plains tribes and their confinement to reservations.
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