Bár meglehetősen kevésbé ismertek, azért 185a előtt is voltak összecsapások a Nagy Síkságon a fehérek és rézbőrűek között.

Az 1812-1814 közötti amarikai-brit háborúban pl. a briteknek sikerült megnyerniük szövetségesül néhány síksági indián törzset.

A minnetarík pl. elűzték az amerikai prémkereskedőket, más törzsek harcosai pedig elszigetelt amerikai településeket támadtak a mai Észak- és Dél-Dakota, ill. Iowa államokban.

Az amerikai katonaság kiürítette az iowai Fort Madison helyőrséget.

Mire a konfliktusok eszkalálódtak volna, vége lett a háborúnak.

 

Egy másik, szintén nagyon kevéssé ismert korai síksági indián háború az ún. arikara háború (Arikara War) 1823-ban. Rövid összefoglaló angolul:

 

"The Arikaras were a small village-dwelling band of the northern plains. Though often bullied by their nomadic neighbors, especially the Teton Sioux, and by Manuel Lisa and other fur traders, the Arikaras had an edge-they occupied the central location for trade between Native American and Anglo-American worlds. Appropriately for this seemingly insignificant tribe, the Arikara War was a small episode in the center of a great web of imperial activity.

The war started when the Arikaras attacked an American horse-buying party. The "treacherous" Arikaras, never noted by Americans for constancy or friendliness, had recently seen a chief's son killed by a trading company employee, but they were also worried that the trade was moving away from their control. The attack, a fifteenminute firefight on June 1, 1823, resulted in a dozen or so Americans dead. The survivors retreated downriver, where they remained for more than a month awaiting reinforcements before taking their vengeance in a desultory battle on August 9 that killed some fifty Arikaras. After an inconclusive peace, the American forces burned a village on August 15 and left the Arikaras. An established American post, however, remained as a message to other unfriendly Indians and to the British, who were rumored to be moving downriver. These lessons helped pacify the hostiles, though smallpox helped more, and American fur trade and exploration expanded after the little war. "

 

És egy másik még rövidebb:

 

"In 1823, at the height of the fur trade, Arikara warriors attacked an American trapping expedition on the Missouri River in present-day South Dakota. Thus began the brief Arikara War—the first military encounter between the United States and western Indians, and a crucial turning point in both the international relations and trade of a fledgling nation. With 230 soldiers, 750 Sioux allies, and 50 aggrieved trappers, United States Army Colonel Henry Leavenworth retaliated. Soon he was in a position to obliterate the offending Arikara—and chose not to. His show of restraint sparked debate between Americans advocating firm subjugation of the Indians and those with more pacific leanings."

 

Érdekes, hogy ebben a háborúban a lakoták (itt Sioux) még a hadsereg és a prémvadászok szövetségesei voltak az arikarák ellenében...