Spanning the years from just after the Civil War, to the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890, The Sioux Indian Wars is the chronicle of an important part of our American heritage. At the close of the Civil War the westward-moving tide of settlers had pressed back from Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers the Sioux and their allies the Cheyennes, the largest and most famous of the great Indian tribes. At the time, the territory was practically devoid of white settlements. It was a great sweep of land comprising every variety of climate and soil, from prairies to fertile valleys. The Big Horn Mountains were the most previous section, controlled by tribes fearful of any intrusion by settlers. The many rivers which traversed this territory teemed with fish, and the valleys that they watered were abundantly fertile for the growing of the few crops the Indians found necessary for support.