This is an incomplete list of military and other armed confrontations that have occurred within the boundaries of the modern US State of South Dakota since European contact. The region was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1535 to 1679, New France from 1679 to 1803, and part of the United States of America 1803–present.
The Plains Indian Wars directly affected the region during westward expansion. The Dakota War of 1862 (also known as the Sioux Uprising) involved eastern Dakota Native Americans, the armed conflicts of this war were fought in Minnesota, their former lands.
Battles[edit]
| Name | Date | Location | War | Campaign | Dead | Belligerents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unnamed attack | June 1, 1823 | along the Missouri River | Arikara War | 12[1] | Arikara vs Rocky Mountain Fur Company trappers | |
| unnamed action | August 9, 1823 | Arikara War | c. 50[2] | United States of America, Sioux, & Rocky Mountain Fur Company trappers vs Arikara | ||
| Battle of Slim Buttes | September 9–10, 1876 | Great Sioux Reservation | Great Sioux War of 1876 | 13 | United States of America vs Lakota | |
| Wounded Knee Massacre | December 29, 1890 | near Wounded Knee Creek, Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation | Ghost Dance War | 328 | United States of America vs Miniconjou Sioux & Hunkpapa Sioux | |
| Drexel Mission Fight | December 30, 1890 | White Clay Creek, north of Pine Ridge, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation | Ghost Dance War | United States of America vs Lakota Sioux & Brulé Sioux |