Product Details

• Actors: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Jack Hanrahan
• Directors: Various
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: August 25, 2009
• Run Time: 230 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002DHACT2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,700 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Brought to you by the award-winning production company Centre Communications, this series is truly one of a kind and is sure to satisfy history buffs and documentary enthusiasts. This DVD set also includes bonus features containing biographies, timelines, rare photographs and maps!

The year 1540 was a crucial turning point in American history. The Great Indian Wars were incited by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado when his expedition to the Great Plains launched the inevitable 350-year struggle between the white man and the American Indians. From that point forward, the series of battles between the military and civilian forces of the United States and the native American Indians began when blood was shed and ultimately tens of thousands of lives were lost on both sides. The Battle of Tippicanoe, the Battle of Horseshoe Band, all three Seminole Wars and the Battle of Little Big Horn were some of the most important conflicts that led up to the last massacre, the Battle of Wounded Knee, where America's landscape would be forever changed!

Chapters:

1. The Indians
Early Indians
Buffalo & Horse
Rise of the Horse Culture
Kiowa
Comanche
Arapahoe
Cheyenne
Sioux
Home
Clothing
Social Structure
Religion

2. The Cavalry
Dragoons
Protecting the Trails
Fort Laramie
The Laramie Treaty
Santa Fe Trail
Kit Carson & the Navajo
Search & Destroy
Buffalo Soldiers
Victory

3. The Indian Warrior
Early Indian Conflicts
Later Indian Conflicts
Becoming an Indian Warrior
Indian Weapons
Minnesota Massacre
Sand Creek Massacre

4.Battle for the Northern Plains
The Northern Plains
The Chiefs
1865 Winter Offensive
Red Cloud's War
Chief Roman Nose and the Cheyenne Twilight
Little Big Horn
Wounded Knee

5.Battle for the Southern Plains
The Southern Plains & The Comanche
Council House Fight and the Texas Rangers
Chief Buffalo Hump's War
First Battle of Adobe Walls & the Kiowa Chiefs
The Red River War
The Desert Southwest
Cochise & the Apache Guerillas
Geronimo

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars America Was Theirs First, March 3, 2010

By 

J. Miller (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Great Indian Wars: 1540-1890 (DVD)

This series isn't the most entertaining that you'll watch, but it makes up for this in the important story that it tells. I grew up with limited knowledge of the indiginous inhabitants of our Great Land. I knew of a few tales and legends, but didn't realize that a few times, the tribes came close to ousting the invaders from their lands. The problem for them was that their cultures, though some were quite warlike, weren't as greedy and expansionist as the European's culture.

This series attempts to tell some of the "military" history of many of the Native Tribes. I only wish it had been done more cinematically, rather than with still photographs. If you can tolerate the pace and style, it's well worth the time spent.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN INFORMATIVE, INTERESTING DVD, April 9, 2011

By 

Kay's Husband (Virginia, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Great Indian Wars: 1540-1890 (DVD)

Having thousands of books, fiction and non fiction, on the American West resting on the shelves I heartily give this DVD a full 5-stars. Anyone reading my other reviews will know I only allow 4-stars for most other things. This DVD and its low price ($2.50 for me, Wal-Mart) makes this one of unbelievable value.

If you are interested in anything concerning the The Indian Wars of the American West from the 1850s through 1890 this will be of great value to you, the DVD also traces some history too from the 1540s, especially concerning the acquisition by the Indians of the plains of the Spanish horses. Using black and white and color this DVD offers a very effective explanation of those troubled times.

One very, excellent DVD which runs several hours.

Recommended.

Semper Fi.

24 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Slanted against the dispossed aboriginal peoples, August 20, 2010

By 

anonymous123 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great Indian Wars: 1540-1890 (DVD)

Forgive me for not having the time to thoroughly research my objections, but this documentary is decidedly and unacceptably (IMO) slanted toward the Euro settlers. That slant and the inexpensive (read: cheesy) production values lead me to wonder how well the writers researched the subject. I felt as if I might be learning some interesting information, for instance, estimates of the numbers of aboriginals killed vs. the number of Euro settlers. But I had to wonder how much of this was outdated information, old saws & anecdotes along the lines of "George Washington chopped down the cherry tree" that have long been generally accepted but bear little resemblance to historical fact. Watch this with considerable skepticism.