The American frontier was shaped by military expeditions, settler conflicts, and clashes with Native American nations. From the Indian Wars to skirmishes along expanding railroads, these battlefield studies use official reports, terrain surveys, and period illustrations to analyse engagements that defined the mythos and reality of the Old West.
🪖 Museum Artefacts →
Fort Bowie was built during the American Civil War by Union Army units from California. The fort protected the important Apache Pass through to New Mexico, and the nearby Apache Springs. For about 30 years, the fort was the hub of operations against Cochise, Geronomo and the Chiricahua Apaches
The day the Dalton Gang rode into Coffeyville and into the history books! Not actually a battlefield; more of a Wild West shootout. In a place even many of my American friends have never heard of! This little town in southeast Kansas was the scene of one of the great good guy-bad guy confrontations of the Wild West.
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, fought on June 25-26, 1876, was a clash between the United States Army and the combined forces of Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. The battle took place in and around a major Indian camp along the Little Bighorn River in southeastern Montana Territory.
The Battle of Black Jack was a small skirmish with just a few casualties, but it was really the first violent confrontation between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces. It presaged the Civil War that engulfed America in 1861.