Red Cloud’s War recounts the conflict of 1866–1868 over the Bozeman Trail and United States forts in the Powder River country. It places Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho resistance within the defence of hunting grounds and the wider pressures created by migration and military expansion.
The narrative follows attacks on travel and garrisons, including the destruction of William Fetterman’s command. The resulting Fort Laramie Treaty required the abandonment of the forts, making the war a rare instance in which Native military pressure forced the United States to withdraw from contested territory.
