Throughout the nineteenth century, the US government supported one way or another the expansion and colonization of the areas west of the Mississippi River, which were inhabited by North American Indians. The expansion was initially directed to the Great Plains, and one of the most important conflicts was, for example, the so-called The Dakota War of 1862. However, the particularly intensified conflicts with the Indians took place after the end of the Civil War, i.e., after 1865, and lasted until around 1890. In the course of these conflicts, the US Army cavalry regiments played a particularly important role; thanks to their mobility and firepower, they could effectively fight the Indians on the vast prairies of the Midwest. The regiments that became particularly famous in the course of these fights are, above all, the 7th, 9th, and 10th Cavalry Regiments. In the 1860s and 1870s, these regiments had a total of 12 companies, combined into 3 squadrons, 4 companies each. A single regiment numbered about 910–950 men. The basic armament was a saber and a reciprocally loaded cavalry carabiner.