List of Indian massacres in North America
An Indian massacre is any incident in which a significant number of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, as a group, killed or were killed outside the confines of mutual combat in war.
Overview
"Indian massacre" is a phrase whose use and definition has evolved and expanded over time. European colonists initially used the phrase to describe attacks by indigenous Americans which resulted in mass colonial casualties. While similar attacks by colonists on Indian villages were called "raids" or "battles", successful Indian attacks on white settlements or military posts were routinely termed "massacres". Knowing very little about the native inhabitants of the American frontier, the colonists were deeply fearful, and often, European Americans who had rarely – or never – seen a Native American read Indian atrocity stories in popular literature and newspapers. Emphasis was placed on the depredations of "murderous savages" in their information about Indians, and as the migrants headed further west, they frequently feared the Indians they would encounter.The phrase eventually became commonly used to also describe mass killings of American Indians. Killings described as "massacres" often had an element of indiscriminate targeting, barbarism, or genocidal intent.
According to historian Jeffrey Ostler, "Any discussion of genocide must, of course, eventually consider the so-called Indian Wars, the term commonly used for U.S. Army campaigns to subjugate Indian nations of the American West beginning in the 1860s. In an older historiography, key events in this history were narrated as battles. It is now more common for scholars to refer to these events as massacres. This is especially so of a Colorado territorial militia's slaughter of Cheyennes at Sand Creek and the army's slaughter of Shoshones at Bear River, Blackfeet on the Marias River, and Lakotas at Wounded Knee. Some scholars have begun referring to these events as “genocidal massacres,” defined as the annihilation of a portion of a larger group, sometimes to provide a lesson to the larger group."
It is difficult to determine the total number of people who died as a result of "Indian massacres". In The Wild Frontier: Atrocities during the American-Indian War from Jamestown Colony to Wounded Knee, lawyer William M. Osborn compiled a list of alleged and actual atrocities in what would eventually become the continental United States, from first contact in 1511 until 1890. His parameters for inclusion included the intentional and indiscriminate murder, torture, or mutilation of civilians, the wounded, and prisoners. His list included 7,193 people who died from atrocities perpetrated by those of European descent, and 9,156 people who died from atrocities perpetrated by Native Americans.
In An American Genocide, The United States and the California Catastrophe, 1846–1873, historian Benjamin Madley recorded the numbers of killings of California Indians between 1846 and 1873. He found evidence that during this period, at least 9,400 to 16,000 California Indians were killed by non-Indians. Most of these killings occurred in what he said were more than 370 massacres.
List of massacres
This is a listing of some of the events reported then or referred to now as "Indian massacre".1830–1915
| Year | Date | Name | Current location | Description | Reported casualties | Claimants |
| 1830 | June | 1830 Prairie du Chien massacre | Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin | Dakotas and Menominees killed fifteen Meskwakis attending a multi-tribal treaty conference, mediated by the American government, at Prairie du Chien. | 15 | |
| 1831 | July | 1831 Prairie du Chien massacre | Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin | In retaliation to the earlier 1830 massacre at Prairie du Chien, a party of Meskwakis and Sauks killed twenty-six Menominees, including women and children at Prairie du Chien in July 1831. | 26 | |
| 1832 | May 20 | Indian Creek Massacre | Illinois | A party of Potawatomi, with a few Sauk allies, killed fifteen men, women and children and kidnapped two young women, who were later ransomed. | 15 | |
| 1832 | August 1 | Battle of Bad Axe | Wisconsin | Soldiers under General Henry Atkinson, armed volunteers and Dakota Sioux killed around 150 Fox and Sauk men, women and children near present-day Victory, Wisconsin. The US suffered 5 dead. | 150 | |
| 1833 | Exact date unknown | Cutthroat Gap Massacre | Oklahoma | The Osage tribe attacked a Kiowa camp west of the Wichita Mountains in southwest Oklahoma, killing 150 Kiowa Indians. | 150 | |
| 1836 | May 19 | Fort Parker Massacre | Texas | Comanche killed seven European Americans in Limestone County, Texas. The five captured included Cynthia Ann Parker. | 7 | |
| 1837 | Amador Massacre | California | Mexican colonists under Jose Maria Amador captured an entire rancheria of friendly Miwok Indians in Northern California and killed their 200 prisoners in two mass executions. | 200 | ||
| 1837 | April 22 | Johnson Massacre | New Mexico | At least 20 Apaches were killed near Santa Rita del Cobre, New Mexico while trading with a group of American settlers led by John Johnson. The Anglos blasted the Apaches with a cannon loaded with musket balls, nails and pieces of glass and finished off the wounded. | 20 | |
| 1837 | August 8 | Santa Fe massacre | Santa Fe, New Mexico | During the start of a popular revolt against New Mexico Governor Albino Pérez, 22 government officials, including Perez and former Governor Santiago Abréu were captured and killed, some by mutilation, by Santo Domingo Pueblo who had joined the rebellion. | 22 | |
| 1838 | October 5 | Killough Massacre | Texas | A party of Cherokee massacred eighteen members and relatives of the Killough family in Texas. | 18 | |
| 1838 | April | Ambush Park | Minnesota | A group of nine Ojibwe led by chief Hole in the Day were welcomed as guests into a camp of Dakota, who served them a meal. During the night the Ojibwe attacked the sleeping Dakota, killing seven, wounding two more, and taking a third captive. | 7 | |
| 1838 or 1839 | Exact date unknown | Webster Massacre | Texas | The Comanche killed a party of settlers attempting to ford the Bushy Creek near present-day Leander, Texas. All of the Anglo men were killed and Mrs. Webster and her two children were captured. | 10 | |
| 1840 | March 19 | Council House Massacre | Texas | The 12 leaders of a Comanche delegation were shot in San Antonio, Texas while trying to escape the local jail. 23 others including 5 women and children were killed in or around the city. 65 Comanche including 35 women and children were present. 7 Texas militia were also killed at the court house mostly from friendly fire. 13 captives were killed in retaliation by the Comanche. | 35 + 13 | |
| 1840 | August 7 | Indian Key Massacre | Florida | During the Seminole Wars, so called "Spanish Indians" attacked and destroyed the settlement on Indian Key, killing 13 inhabitants, including noted horticulturist Dr. Henry Perrine. | 13 | |
| 1840 | August 7 | Linnville Raid | Texas | During the Great Raid of 1840, Comanche warriors attacked the settlements of Victoria and Linnville killing 14 Whites, 8 Blacks and 1 Mexican. | 23 | |
| 1840 | October 24 | Red Fork of the Colorado River | Texas | Volunteer Rangers, consisting of 90 Texans and 17 Lipan Apaches, under Colonel John Moore, attacked a Comanche village on the Colorado, killing 140 men, women and children and capturing 35 others. | 140 | |
| 1840 | Exact date unknown | Clear Lake Massacre | California | A posse led by Mexican Salvador Vallejo massacred 150 Pomo and Wappo Indians on Clear Lake, California. | 150 | |
| 1844 | February 9 | Fort Mackenzie Massacre | Montana | White traders fired a small cannon on a group of unsuspecting Blackfeet approaching the gates of Fort Mackenzie for trade. They finished off the dying with daggers. Up to 30 Blackfeet were killed. | 30 | |
| 1846 | April 6 | Sacramento River massacre | California | Captain Frémont's men attacked a band of Indians on the Sacramento River in California, killing between 120 and 200 Indians. | 120–200 | |
| 1846 | May 12 | Klamath Lake massacre | California | Captain Frémont's men, led by Kit Carson attacked a village of Klamaths on the banks of Klamath Lake, killing at least 14 Klamath people. | 14+ | |
| 1846 | June | Sutter Buttes massacre | California | Captain Frémont's men attacked a rancheria on the banks of the Sacramento River near Sutter Buttes, killing several Patwin people. | 14+ | |
| 1846 | July 6 | Kirker Massacre | Chihuahua | Irish-born American Scalp hunter James Kirker was hired by the Mexican government to kill or capture Apache Indians. Alongside local Mexican citizens, he lured a band of Chiricahua Apaches into Galeana, Chihuahua and got them drunk. After the "festivities", Kirker's men killed and scalped 130 men, women and children. | 130 | |
| 1846 | December | Pauma massacre | California | 11 Californio were killed by Luiseño Indians at Pauma Valley north of Escondido, California. | 11 | |
| 1846 | December | Temecula massacre | California | A combined force of Californio militia and Cahuilla Indians killed 33 to 40 Luiseño Indians in Temecula, California in revenge for the Pauma Massacre. | 33–40 | |
| 1847 | February 3–4 | Storming of Pueblo de Taos | New Mexico | In response to a New Mexican-instigated uprising in Taos, American troops attacked the heavily fortified Pueblo of Taos with artillery, killing nearly 150 rebels, some being Indians. Between 25 and 30 prisoners were shot by firing squads. | 25–30 | |
| 1847 | March | Rancheria Tulea massacre | California | White slavers retaliate to a slave escape by massacring five Indians in Rancheria Tulea. | 5 | |
| 1847 | March 29 | Kern and Sutter massacres | California | In response to a plea from White settlers to put an end to raids, U.S. Army Captain Edward Kern and rancher John Sutter led 50 men in attacks on three Indian villages. | 20 | |
| 1847 | late June/early July | Konkow [Maidu slaver massacre] | California | Slavers kill 12–20 Konkow Maidu Indians in the process of capturing 30 members of the tribe for the purpose of forced slavery. | 12–20 | |
| 1847 | November 29 | Whitman massacre | Washington | Cayuse and Umatilla warriors killed the missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, Mrs. Narcissa Whitman and 12 others at Walla Walla, Washington, in retaliation for the belief that Whitmans were responsible for the deaths of 200 natives from measles, triggering the Cayuse War. Subsequently, the U.S hanged 5 Cayuse, including the Waiilatpu Leader Tiloukaikt. | 14 | |
| 1848 | April | Brazos River | Texas | A hunting party of 26 friendly Wichita and Caddo Indians was massacred by Texas Rangers under Captain Samuel Highsmithe, in a valley south of Brazos River. 25 men and boys were killed, and only one child managed to escape. | 26 | |
| 1849 | March 5 | Battle Creek massacre | Utah | In response to some cattle being stolen, Governor Brigham Young sent members of the Mormon militia to "put a final end to their depredations". They were led to a band, where they attacked them, killing the men and taking the women and children as captives. | 4 | |
| 1850 | Feb 8 | Battle at Fort Utah | Utah | Governor Brigham Young issued a partial extermination order of the Timpanogos who lived in Utah Valley. In the north, the Timpanogos were fortified. However, in the south, the Mormon militia told them they were friendly before lining them up to execute them. Dozens of women and children were enslaved and taken to Salt Lake City, Utah, where many died. | 102 + "many" in captivity | |
| 1850 | May 15 | Bloody Island Massacre | California | Nathaniel Lyon and his U.S. Army detachment of cavalry killed 60–100 Pomo people on Bo-no-po-ti island near Clear Lake, ; they believed the Pomo had killed two Clear Lake settlers who had been abusing and murdering Pomo people.. This incident led to a general outbreak of settler attacks against and mass killing of native people all over Northern California. Site is California Registered Historical Landmark #427 | 60–100 | |
| 1851 | January 11 | Mariposa War | California | The gold rush increased pressure on the Native Americans of California, because miners forced Native Americans off their gold-rich lands. Many were pressed into service in the mines; others had their villages raided by the army and volunteer militia. Some Native American tribes fought back, beginning with the Ahwahneechees and the Chowchilla in the Sierra Nevada and San Joaquin Valley leading a raid on the Fresno River post of James D. Savage, in December 1850. In retaliation Mariposa County Sheriff James Burney led local militia in an indecisive clash with the natives on January 11, 1851 on a mountainside near present-day Oakhurst, California. | 40+ | |
| 1851 | March | Oatman Massacre | Arizona | Royce Oatman's emigrant party of 7 was killed by Mohave or Yavapai Indians. The survivors, Olive and Mary Ann Oatman were enslaved. Olive escaped five years later and spoke extensively about the experience. | 7 | |
| 1851 | Old Shasta Town | California | Miners killed 300 Wintu Indians near Old Shasta, California and burned down their tribal council meeting house. | 300 | ||
| 1852 | Hynes Bay Massacre | Texas | Texas militiamen attacked a village of 50 Karankawas, killing 45 of them. | 45 | ||
| 1852 | April 23 | Bridge Gulch Massacre | California | 70 American men led by Trinity County sheriff William H. Dixon killed more than 150 Wintu people in the Hayfork Valley of California, in retaliation for the killing of Col. John Anderson. | 150 | |
| 1852 | November | Wright Massacre | California | White settlers led by a notorious Indian hunter named Ben Wright massacred 41 Modocs during a "peace parley". | 41 | |
| 1853 | Howonquet Massacre | California | Californian settlers attacked and burned the Tolowa village of Howonquet, massacring 70 people. | 70 | ||
| 1853 | Yontoket Massacre | California | A posse of settlers attacked and burned a Tolowa rancheria at Yontocket, California, killing 450 Tolowa during a prayer ceremony. | 450 | ||
| 1853 | Achulet Massacre | California | White settlers launched an attack on a Tolowa village near Lake Earl in California, killing between 65 and 150 Indians at dawn. | 65–150 | ||
| 1853 | Before December 31 | "Ox" incident | California | U.S. forces attacked and killed an unreported number of Indians in the Four Creeks area in what was referred to by officers as "our little difficulty" and "the chastisement they have received". | ||
| 1854 | January 28 | Nasomah Massacre | Oregon | 40 white settlers attacked the sleeping village of the Nasomah Indians at the mouth of the Coquille River in Oregon, killing 15 men and 1 woman. | 16 | |
| 1854 | February 15 | Chetco River Massacre | Oregon | Nine white settlers attacked a friendly Indian village on the Chetco River in Oregon, massacring 26 men and a few women. Most of the Indians were shot while trying to escape. Two Chetco who tried to resist with bows and arrows were burned alive in their houses. Shortly before the attack, the Chetco had been induced to give away their weapons as "friendly relations were firmly established". | 36+ | |
| 1854 | May 15 | Asbill Massacre | California | Six white settlers from Missouri attacked previously uncontacted Indians in the Round Valley Reservation|Round Valley], massacring approximately 40 of them. | 40 | |
| 1854 | August 20 | Ward Massacre | Idaho | Shoshone killed 18 of the 20 members of the Alexander Ward party, attacking them on the Oregon Trail in western Idaho. This event led the U.S. eventually to abandon Fort Boise and Fort Hall, in favor of the use of military escorts for emigrant wagon trains. | 18 | |
| 1854 | Dec 25 | Fort Pueblo Massacre | Colorado | 16 settlers were killed by Utah & Apache | 16 | |
| 1855 | January 22 | Klamath River massacres | California | In retaliation for the murder of six settlers and the theft of some cattle, whites commenced a "war of extermination against the Indians" in Humboldt County, California. | ||
| 1855 | September 2 | Harney Massacre | Nebraska | US troops under Brigadier General William S. Harney killed 86 Sioux, men, women and children at Blue Water Creek, in present-day Nebraska. 27 US soldiers also died in the skirmish. About 70 women and children were taken prisoner. Women and children accounted for about half of the Sioux deaths. | 86 | |
| 1855 | October 8 | Lupton Massacre | Oregon | During the Rogue River Wars, a group of settlers and miners launched a night attack on an Indian village near Upper Table Rock, Oregon, killing 23 Indians. | 23 | |
| 1855 | October | Gold Beach Massacre | Oregon | During the Rogue River Wars, in response to the Lupton massacre, Indians killed 27 settlers in what later became Gold Beach. | 27 | |
| 1855 | December 23 | Little Butte Creek | Oregon | Oregon volunteers launched a dawn attack on a Tututni and Takelma camp on the Rogue River. Between 19 and 26 Indians were killed. | 19–26 | |
| 1856 | June | Grande Ronde River Valley Massacre | Oregon | Washington Territorial Volunteers under Colonel Benjamin Shaw attacked a peaceful Cayuse and Walla Walla Indians on the Grande Ronde River in Oregon. 60 Indians, mostly women, old men and children were killed. | 60 | |
| 1856 | March | Shingletown | California | In reprisal for Indian stock theft, white settlers massacred at least 20 Yana men, women and children near Shingletown, California. | 20 | |
| 1856 | March 26 | Cascades Massacre | Oregon/Washington | Yakama, Klickitat and Cascades warriors attacked white soldiers and settlers at the Cascades of the Columbia River for controlling portage of the river and denying them their source of nutrition. Nine Cascades Indians who surrendered without a fight, including Chenoweth, Chief of the Hood River Band, were improperly charged and executed. | 17 | |
| 1857 | Mar 8–12 | Spirit Lake Massacre | Iowa | Thirty-five to 40 settlers were killed and 4 taken captive by Santee Sioux in the last Indian attack on settlers in Iowa. | 35–40 | |
| 1857 | Sep 7-11 | Mountain Meadows Massacre | Utah | Between 14 and 200 Paiutes participated in an attack staged by the Mormon Militia against the Baker-Fancher wagon train from Arkansas. The Mormons of the area erroneously feared that the settlers were part of a plot by the US Army to invade Utah. The settlers surrender after a few days but are subsequently massacred by members of the Militia who suspected that the settlers had recognized that some of the attackers were non-Indians in disguise. | 120 to 140 settlers killed. 17 younger children were passed out to local families, later repatriated to their families back in Arkansas. | - |
| 1856–1859 | Round Valley Settler Massacres | California | White settlers killed over a thousand Yuki Indians in Round Valley over the course of three years in an uncountable number of separate massacres. | 1000+ | ||
| 1858 | Aug 9–17 | Fraser Canyon War | British Columbia | Settlers killed dozens of Nlaka’pamux non-combatants and burned five villages. | 36+ | |
| July 1859 to January 1860 | Jarboe's War | California | White settlers calling themselves the "Eel River Rangers", led by Walter Jarboe, kill at least 283 Indian men and countless women and children in 23 engagements over the course of six months. They are reimbursed by the U.S. government for their campaign. | 283+ | ||
| 1859-1860 | Mendocino War | California | Settler intrusion and slave raids on native lands and subsequent native retaliation resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Yuki. | 400+ | ||
| 1859 | Spring Valley Massacre | Nevada | In late summer or early autumn of 1859, a US Army company led by General Albert Sidney Johnston tracked down and attacked an encampment of the Western Shoshone north of the Bahsahwahbee area. US army interpreter and guide Elijah Nicholas Wilson estimated that 350 men were killed, as well as many women and children. | 350 men 175–350 women and children | ||
| 1859 | September | Pit River | California | White settlers massacred 70 Achomawi Indians in their village on Pit River in California. | 70 | |
| 1859 | Chico Creek | California | White settlers attacked a Maidu camp near Chico Creek in California, killing indiscriminately 40 Indians. | 40 | ||
| 1860 | Exact date unknown | Massacre at Bloody Rock | California | A group of 65 Yuki Indians were surrounded and massacred by white settlers at Bloody Rock, in Mendocino County, California. | 65 | |
| 1860 | February 26 | 1860 [Wiyot Massacre|Indian Island Massacre] | California | In three nearly simultaneous assaults on the Wiyot, at Indian Island, Eureka, Rio Dell, and near Hydesville, California white settlers killed between 80 and 250 Wiyot in Humboldt County, California. Victims were mostly women, children and elders, as reported by Bret Harte at Arcata newspaper. Other villages massacred within two days. The main site is National Register of Historic Places in the United States #66000208. | 80–250 | |
| 1860 | December 18 | Battle of Pease River | Texas | Texas Rangers under Captain Sul Ross attacked a Comanche village in Foard County, Texas, killing at least 14 unarmed people. | 14 | |
| 1860 | September 8 | Otter Massacre | Idaho | Near Sinker Creek Idaho, 11 persons of the last wagon train of the year were killed by Indians and several others were subsequently killed. Some that escaped the initial massacre starved to death. | 11+ | |
| 1861 | Horse Canyon Massacre | California | White settlers and Indian allies attacked a Wailaki village in Horse Canyon, killing up to 240 Wailakis. | 240 | ||
| 1861 | February | Bascom affair | Arizona | Lt. George Nicholas Bascom incorrectly believed Chiricahua Apache had kidnapped a twelve-year-old boy. Boscom tried to imprison their leader Cochise during a meeting. Cochise escaped, however others were captured. Two days later, Cochise captured and killed nine Mexicans. Three Americans who were also captured as hostages for negotiations, but they were killed after negotiations failed. Six of the captive Apache were later hung, including Cochise's brother and nephews. | 12 + 6 | |
| 1861-1863 | Cookes Canyon Massacres | New Mexico | Apaches massacred as many as 100 Americans and Mexicans in Cooke's Canyon, New Mexico between 1861 and 1863. | 100 | ||
| 1861 | September 21 | Fort Fauntleroy Massacre | New Mexico | Soldiers massacred between 12 and 20 Navajos at Fort Fauntleroy, following a dispute over a horse race. | 12–20 | |
| 1862 | Upper Station Massacre | California | California settlers killed at least 20 Wailakis in Round Valley, California. | 20 | ||
| 1862 | Big Antelope Creek Massacre | California | California settlers led by notorious Indian hunter Hi Good launched a dawn attack on a Yana village, massacring about 25 Indians. | 25 | ||
| 1862 | August | Kowonk Massacre | California | A posse of 25 California settlers killed 45 Konkow Indians on their reservation in Round Valley, California. | 45 | |
| 1862 | August–September | Dakota War of 1862 | Minnesota | As part of the U.S.-Dakota War, the Sioux killed as many as 800 white settlers and soldiers throughout Minnesota. Some 40,000 white settlers fled their homes on the frontier. | 450–800 38 Sioux executed after the war | |
| 1862 | October | Massacre at Gallinas Springs | New Mexico | Soldiers under Capt. James Graydon's shot an aged Mescalero leader who was approaching with his hand up as a sign of peace. 11 other Mescaleros were also killed, including a woman. | 12 | |
| 1862 | October 24 | Tonkawa Massacre | Oklahoma | During the U.S. Civil War, a detachment of irregular Union Indians, mainly Kickapoo, Lenape and Shawnee, accompanied by Caddo allies, attempted to destroy the Tonkawa tribe in Indian Territory. They killed 240 of 390 Tonkawa, leaving only 150 survivors. | 240 | |
| 1863 | January 29 | Bear River Massacre | Idaho | Col. Patrick Connor led a United States Army regiment killing up to 280 Shoshone men, women and children near Preston, Idaho. 21 US soldiers were also killed in the fight. | 246–280 | |
| 1863 | April 19 | Keyesville Massacre | California | American militia and members of the California cavalry, under the command of Captain Moses A. McLaughlin, killed 35 Tübatulabal men in Kern County, California. | 35 | |
| 1863 | May 3 | Swamp Cedars Massacre | Nevada | Cavalry company led by Captain S. P. Smith, under orders of Colonel Patrick Connor of Fort Ruby, massacred 24 Goshute in their sleep on May 3 and 5 more the next day, followed by a massacre of 23 Indians in the Swamp Cedars of Spring Valley. | 52 | |
| 1863–1865 | Mowry massacres | Arizona | 16 settlers were killed in a series of Indian raids at Mowry, Arizona Territory | 16 | ||
| 1864 | Cottonwood | California | 20 Yanas of both sexes were killed by white settlers in the town of Cottonwood, California. | 20 | ||
| 1864 | Massacre at Bloody Tanks | Arizona | A group of white settlers led by King S. Woolsey killed 19 Apaches at a "peace parley". | 19 | ||
| 1864 | Oak Run Massacre | California | California settlers massacred 300 Yana Indians who had gathered near the head of Oak Run, California for a spiritual ceremony. | 300 | ||
| 1864 | Skull Valley Massacre | Arizona | A group of Yavapai families was lured into a trap and massacred by soldiers under Lt. Monteith in a valley west of Prescott, Arizona. The place was named Skull Valley after the heads of the dead Indians left unburied. | |||
| 1864 | November 29 | Sand Creek Massacre | Colorado | Members of the Colorado Militia, in retaliation for theft and violence by Cheyenne Indians against settlers, attacked a village of Cheyenne, killing up to 600 men, women and children at Sand Creek in Kiowa County. | 70–600 | |
| 1865 | January 14 | American Ranch Massacre | Colorado | During the Colorado War, Cheyenne and Sioux warriors attacked a ranch near present-day Sterling, Colorado where they killed all of the male settlers and took three captives, one of whom was later killed. | 8 | |
| 1865 | March 14 | Mud Lake Massacre | Nevada | US troops under Captain Wells attacked a Paiute camp near Winnemucca Lake, killing 32 Indians. One soldier was slightly wounded during the attack. | 32 | |
| 1865 | July 18 | The Squaw Fight/The Grass Valley Massacre | Utah | While searching for Antonga Black Hawk, the Mormon militia came upon a band of Ute Indians. Thinking they were part of Black Hawk's band, they attacked them. They killed 10 men and took the women and children captive. After the women and children tried to escape, the militia shot them too. | 10 men + unknown women and children | |
| 1865 | Owens Lake Massacre | California | Following the murder of Mrs. McGuire and her son at Haiwai Meadows, White vigilantes tracked the attackers from the meadows to a Paiute camp on Owens Lake in California. They attacked it killing about 40 men, women and children. | 40 | ||
| 1865 | Three Knolls Massacre | California | White settlers massacred a Yana community at Three Knolls on the Mill Creek, California. | |||
| 1865 | September 12 | Thacker Pass Massacre | Nevada | Led by Capt. Payne and Lt. Littlefield, the 1st Nevada Cavalry murdered at least 31 Paiute men, women, and children. | 31+ | |
| 1865 | September | Bloody Point Massacre | Oregon | A wagon train of 65 settlers was massacred by Modoc Indians near Lake Tule in Oregon. One man survived and alerted the Oregon militia who buried the bodies. | 65 | |
| 1866 | April 21 | Circleville Massacre | Utah | Mormon militiamen killed 16 Paiute men and women at Circleville, Utah. 6 men were shot, allegedly while trying to escape. The others had their throats cut. 4 small children were spared. | 16 | |
| 1867 | Aquarius Mountains | Arizona | Yavapai County Rangers killed 23 Indians in the southern Aquarius Mountains, Arizona. | 23 | ||
| 1868 | Campo Seco | California | A posse of white settlers massacred 33 Yahis in a cave north of Mill Creek, California. | 33 | ||
| 1868 | September 24 | Massacre at La Paz | Arizona | A group of teamsters attacked a sleeping Yavapai camp in the outskirts of La Paz, Arizona, killing 15 Indians. | 15 | |
| 1868 | November 27 | Washita Massacre | Oklahoma | During the American Indian Wars, Lt. Col. G.A.Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked a village of sleeping Cheyenne led by Black Kettle. Custer reported 103 – later revised to 140 – warriors, "some" women and "few" children killed, and 53 women and children taken hostage. Other casualty estimates by cavalry members, scouts and Indians vary widely, with the number of men killed ranging as low as 11 and the numbers of women and children ranging as high as 75 and as low as 17. Before returning to their base, the cavalry killed several hundred Indian ponies and burned the village. 21 US soldiers were also killed. | 17–75 | |
| 1870 | January 23 | Marias Massacre | Montana | US troops killed 173 Piegan, mainly women, children and the elderly after being led to the wrong camp by a soldier who wanted to protect his Indian wife's family. | 173–217 | |
| 1871 | Kingsley Cave Massacre | California | 4 settlers killed 30 Yahi Indians in Tehama County, California about two miles from Wild Horse Corral in the Ishi Wilderness. It is estimated that this massacre left only 15 members of the Yahi tribe alive | 30 | ||
| 1871 | April 30 | Camp Grant Massacre | Arizona | Led by the ex-Mayor of Tucson, William Oury, eight Americans, 48 Mexicans and more than 100 allied Pima attacked Apache men, women and children at Camp Grant, Arizona Territory killing 144, with 1 survivor at scene and 29 children sold to slavery. All but eight of the dead were Apache women or children. | 144 | |
| 1871 | May 5 | Salt Creek massacre | Texas | Kiowa warriors attacked a corn wagon train, killing and mutilating seven of the wagoneer's bodies. Three of the attack leaders were later arrested at Fort Sill: Satanta, Satank, and Ado-ete. Satank was later killed during an escape attempt, while the other two were Satanta and Big Tree|convicted of murder]. | 7 | |
| 1871 | November 5 | Wickenburg massacre | Arizona | Indians attacked an Arizona stagecoach, killing the driver and his five passengers, leaving two wounded survivors. | 6 | |
| 1872 | December 28 | Skeleton Cave Massacre | Arizona | U.S. troops and Indian scouts killed 76 Yavapai Indians men, women and children in a remote cave in Arizona's Salt River Canyon. | 76 | |
| 1873 | June 1 | Cypress Hills Massacre | Saskatchewan | Following a dispute over stolen horses, American wolfers killed approximately 20 Nakoda in Saskatchewan. | 20 | |
| 1873 | August 5 | Massacre Canyon | Nebraska | A large Oglala/Brulé Sioux war party, numbering over 1,500 warriors led by Two Strike, Little Wound, and Spotted Tail attacked a band of Pawnee during their summer buffalo hunt, killing more than 150 Pawnees, including 102 women and children. Some the dead were mutilated and set on fire. | 156–173 | |
| 1874 | August 24 | Lone Tree Massacre | Kansas | Surveyors under Captain Oliver Francis Short were ambushed by a group of 25 Cheyenne, near the lone Cottonwood tree by the Crooked Creek, near present day Meade Kansas. | 7 | |
| 1875 | April | Sappa Creek Massacre | Kansas | Soldiers under Lt Austin Henly trapped a group of 27 Cheyenne, on the Sappa Creek, in Kansas and killed them all. | 27 | |
| 1877 | August 8 | Battle of the Big Hole | Montana | US troops under Colonel John Gibbon attacked a Nez Perce encampment on the North fork of the Big Hole river in Montana Territory during the Nez Perce War. They killed 70 to 90 including 33 warriors before being repulsed by the Indians. 31 US soldiers were killed. | 70–90 | |
| 1879 | January 9–21 | Fort Robinson Massacre | Nebraska | Northern Cheyenne under Dull Knife attempted to escape from confinement in Fort Robinson, Nebraska; U.S. Army forces hunted them down, killing between 64 and 77 of them. The remains of those killed were repatriated in 1994. 12 U.S. soldiers were also killed. | 64–77 | |
| 1879 | September 30 | Meeker Massacre | Colorado | In the beginning of the Ute War, the Ute killed the US Indian Agent Nathan Meeker and 10 others. They also attacked a military unit, killing 13 and wounding 43. | 11 | |
| 1880 | April 28 | Alma Massacre | New Mexico | The Apache chief Victorio led warriors in an attack on settlers at Alma, New Mexico. On December 19, 1885, the Apache killed an officer and four enlisted men of the 8th Cavalry Regiment near Alma. | 35–41 | |
| 1882 | April 16 | Stephens Ranch massacre | Arizona | The Apache chief Geronimo asked for food at a sheep herder camp near Bryce, Arizona. After promising the sheep herders they would not be harmed, Geronimo and his band were fed. Geronimo then ordered the family and sheep herders to be killed. | 16+ | |
| 1885 | April 2 | Frog Lake Massacre | Frog Lake, Alberta | During the Cree uprising in the North-West Rebellion, Cree men, Led by Wandering Spirit, killed 9 officials, clergy and settlers in the small settlement of Frog Lake in the District of Saskatchewan. | 9 | |
| 1885 | June 19 | Beaver Creek Massacre | Colorado | White cattlemen killed six Ute Mountain Utes at a camp on Beaver Creek, about 16 miles north of Dolores in present Montezuma County. | 6 | |
| 1889 | February 14 or 15 | Jim Jumper massacre | Florida | Jim Jumper, a biracial-Seminole, killed at least six Seminoles when his request to marry a Seminole woman was refused. Jumper was then killed by another Seminole. | 7 or more | |
| 1890 | December 10 | Buffalo Gap Massacre | South Dakota | Several wagonloads of Sioux were killed by South Dakota Home Guard militiamen near French Creek, South Dakota, while visiting a white friend in Buffalo Gap. | ||
| 1890 | December 16 | Strong Hold | South Dakota | South Dakota Home Guard militiamen ambushed and massacred 75 Sioux at the Stronghold, in the northern portion of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. | 75 | |
| 1890 | December 29 | Wounded Knee Massacre | South Dakota | Members of the U.S. 7th Cavalry attacked and killed between 130 and 250 Sioux men, women and children at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. | 130–250 | |
| 1897 | Unknown | Swamp Cedars Massacre of 1897 | Nevada | A group of vigilantes targeted a Shoshone gathering, killing all in attendance, mainly women, children, and elders, except two young girls. | ||
| 1911 | January 19 | Last Massacre | Nevada | A group of Shoshone killed four ranchers in Washoe County, Nevada. On February 26, 1911, an American posse killed eight of the Shoshone suspects and captured four children from the band. | 5 + 8 | |
| 1915 | December 2 | Massacre of San Pedro de la Cueva | Sonora, Mexico | During the Mexican Revolution, on the morning of December 2, 1915, after the disastrous campaign of his army in the state of Sonora, Pancho Villa angrily arrived in San Pedro de la Cueva and ordered the mass execution of all the residents of the town. He blamed them for the deaths of five of his men. An outpost under the command of one of her colonels, Margarito Orozco, had apprehended 300 men, women and children, training them in front of the church. When Villa ordered his officers to initiate the executions, Colonel Macario Bracamontes, who was active in his ranks, convinced him to spare the lives of a hundred women and children. Immediately, the rest of the prisoners, who numbered 112 men, were lined up against one of the walls of the Catholic church to be put under arms; at the beginning of the executions, the village priest, Andrés A. Flores Quesney, pleaded three times for the lives of the condemned, including his father, but Villa ended up killing him with a shot. The killing continued. | Around 91 people between residents, Opatas, foreigners and Chinese |