After the Civil War the conflict between white frontiersmen and the Plains Indians changed from a guerrilla conflict to an all-out war fought between various western tribes and the U.S. Army. Lasting from 1866 until 1891, the Indian wars provided fresh opportunities to practice the reporting techniques developed during the Civil War. Aside from courage, a correspondent needed a good horse, a weapon, and a reliable courier to carry dispatches to a town with a telegraph office. Many times journalists had to fight as a matter of survival.

Could Anyone Expect Less?

The first phase of the wars, lasting until 1878, was fought on the open plains. As Gen. Philip Sheridan stated: "We took away their country and their means of support, broke up their mode of living, their habits of life, introduced disease and decay among them, and it was for this and...