UCLA

This study uses the biographical method to explore the postbellum Indian Wars that resulted in the consolidation of federal authority over the territory and peoples of the trans-Mississippi West. Frontier army officers Richard Pratt, Gustavus Doane, and Charles Gatewood commanded Indian scouts during campaigns to subjugate tribes that resisted federal authority. Military records and other archival sources, including personal memoirs, allow us to understand this process of consolidation through their experiences. What these officers accomplished by, with, or through Indian scouts provide windows on the army’s essential role in consolidating federal authority. They also demonstrate the effect of their individual agency on the broader outcomes of consolidation.The army was sent west to nation build following the Civil War, facilitating settlement and development throughout the region. To limit friction between settler and Indian communities along the frontier the federal government sought to concentrate Indians on reservations. The army’s role was to subjugate Indian tribes that violently resisted concentration. Pratt enabled General Philipp Sheridan’s plan to subdue the Comanche by employing scouts from a variety of tribes to lead army columns during the 1874-75 Red River War campaign. Doane acted through the Crow tribe to support army commands during the Great Sioux War of 1876-77. In the final phase of consolidation, Gatewood acted with two Apache scouts to open negotiations with Geronimo, resulting in his surrender to General Nelson Miles. The role of commanding scouts also allowed officers to transcend the rigid regimental structure and stagnation of the army’s promotion system. These officers had outsized effects on how consolidation was implemented and, importantly, how we understand that historical process today. Pratt changed the national discourse on Indian assimilation, eliminating overt extermination from the debate. Doane’s official reports motivated national leaders to preserve a precious western landscape, thereby redefining the possible outcomes of consolidation. Gatewood’s faithfulness provided the myth of the west one of its central characters, who remains the benchmark for understanding consolidation today. This study also prepares us to more effectively examine current U.S. policies, the army’s role in implementing those policies, and the effects officers have on implementation.