The Lakotah War , known in some academic circles as the "First North American War" , "Great Plains War" and in circles of the New United States as the "Second Revolutionary War" , was a North American conflict that was fought from 1987 to 1989. Stemming from the dire conditions of the late 1980s, communities that were countrymen and neighbors half a decade prior found themselves fighting for limited resources, control of the few low-radiation sites across the Great Plains and irreconcilable contradicting motives.
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| date: | May 23, 1987 - March 10, 1989 | |||||||||||||
| location: | The Great Plains of North America | |||||||||||||
| result: | Strategic victory of the Continental Army, Lakotah goal of sovereignty established, formation of the Provisional United States | |||||||||||||
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Overview[]
Uncovering the facts of the Lakota War has been a pivotal moment for the works of the North American Union's Truth Committee. Although by 2023 the historically significant event has found its way into history books even across the Pacific, there has been surprisingly little accurate information compiled for objective study. The Truth Committee's works have been endeavored to dispel some of these notions, namely that it was primarily a racial war, or was a rehash of 19th century "Indian Wars", or even completely erroneous information that President Ronald Reagan himself led and died in the conflict.
Likewise, although the war raiding parties were well-attested, the conflict featured an array of actors from all walks of life - the Lakota themselves of course, the rogue state government in eastern Nebraska, formerly Canadian neo-nations which tried to pick apart the buckling northern states separate from the other war theaters, American secessionists, raiders, and other radical factions with common interest worth uniting under a single banner against the few remaining functioning state governments in the Great Plains known as the "Final Five" - which would go on to found the New Continental Army under Ray Hunkins' banner.
In June 2023, University of Colorado Professor John Schneider along with the Truth Committee released a Special Report on the history of the war. Given the variance in accounts, the committee thought it best to include each state's own stories on the war, in order to help paint a clearer picture of everything that happened - and everyone's actions, good bad and ugly, on all sides. In summary, the report detailed not just war crimes committed by the Lakotah and NCU but also the motives of third parties such as Lord Riel's Army, the newfound Republic of Lincoln which emerged in defiance to the efforts of the Five Hunkins States to reform the United States at the regional level, and the crumbling Dakota state governments, which were chipped away at on a two-pronged front by both the Lakota as well as the Assiniboians.
Dakota Account[]
In spite of the egregious amount of strikes inflicted across the western halves of North and South Dakota, and the fallout nearly choking the air for thousands of square miles, life persisted in those pockets which found themselves in lucky winds. Across many of the communities in this hard struck area, from the North of Wiliston, ND to the banks of the Platte River in Nebraska, many communities were outraged that the Cold War had come to this bleak end. There was almost no electricity, gasoline was depleted where it was not hoarded, and thousands upon thousands had left the cities to forage for food, work for scraps, or other desperate measures. Around this same time, many surviving military and National Guards began to throw off their uniforms while keeping their guns. From politically-motivated actors, secessionist movements, cult-types, or simply previously everyday people fed up with the remaining state governments ineptitudes, the roads became an increasingly dangerous place to travel. One independence movement in particular, the Lakotah Liberation Front, would come to be formed in the now neglected western half of the two states by an alliance of Lakotah Activist Russel Means and various other actors in the region, including defectors from the South Dakotan and Nebraskan state Guard, the Manitoban group "Riel's Army" comprised of both First Nations and Anglo-Canadians attempting to forge their own polity, fledgling mercenaries, and other supporters in Wyoming. The nascent Republic of Lakotah was declared, with its first mantra being to disavow itself of any authorities declaring themselves American, Canadian, NATO of any kind, or any of those who led the continent to destruction. Initially, the Dakotan Guard treated them with the same indifference as any other armed brigand -- if out past curfew, and refuse to return home detained, shoot on sight. However, when these engagements went unsavory to the Dakotans, patrols stopped coming back entirely, concerns reached both states that something organized was afoot. Everything would change when the Lakotah Forces would issue the South Dakotan government an ultimatum -- surrender everything west of the Missouri River within a fortnight or suffer the consequences east of it.
The ultimatum was refused. The fortnight passed, and nothing came of it. Raids stopped entirely, with the remaining troops being cautious to pursue a hiding enemy. Everything would change when on Halloween of 1986, the Lakotan Front launched a midnight raid of Pierre, setting much of the city ablaze while shooting noisy fireworks in the distance, to confuse the enemy to their location. The State Capitol, Courthouse were set ablaze, with the Police Headquarters being raided (although the paltry reserve of ammo by this time were probably not of much help) and razed to the ground as well, with the governor disappearing during the attack. Specific targets were hit with prescient knowledge and likely insider help as well. Although dozens died in the chaos, it was not an explicit attack on the civilians or even the state militias but rather a statement of authority: the old order has ended, and now is a time of change.
As day broke, it was clear that the rout had been entirely successful. Over half of the city lay ablaze, with smoke filling the air. There was no one in charge of the remaining Dakotans, with the guard officers being killed, injured or arrested. The Lakotah would choose to end the raid, instructing the civilians they had to leave the area, stating that this particular time was chosen as it would be the last time a journey eastward would not result in the winter claiming their lives. With the Lakotah forces now guarding the city, thousands of its residents, survivors of the horrid fallout cloud and now the raid which ended their city, made the frightful journey to what remained of the legislature at Sioux Falls. With one half of the Provisional Government destroyed in one night, the Dakotas fate seemed incredibly dire.
Lakotah Account[]
The area that would one day become the Republic included some of the poorest counties in the United States. Many of the founding members of the Republic were active members of the American Indian Movement, including Russell Means who would become the main proponent of the Republic following Doomsday.
North and South Dakota were not spared from Doomsday. Minot AFB, Cavalier AFS, Grand Forks AFB and Ellsworth AFB were hit by airburst nuclear explosions. There were further strikes against the missile silos west and south of Minot, North Dakota. Due to their rural nature and isolation from military targets, the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Rosebud Indian Reservation, the Lower Brule Indian Reservation and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, all managed to weather the early months of Doomsday rather well.
North American Union account[]
One of the unique phenomenon of the area was the creation of "nomadic clans." As the effects of Doomsday became apparent with the loss of plant life and a horrible harvest, many farmers and their families and close friends took to the road with their horses, cattle and other livestock to seek better pastures for their animals. Feeding themselves "off the hoof", these clans grew as they took in refugees who had certain skills that would be needed. The emergence of this new lifestyle was most apparent among the Sioux/Lakota of North and South Dakota. Only a few months after Doomsday, the Sioux returned to their old nomadic lifestyle, with a twist. Almost immediately they began raiding communities in the Dakotas demanding tribute for Sioux "protection." As the Sioux empire grew it became necessary for a central government to better organize the various Sioux tribes activities. Thus in 1984 at North Eagle Butte, South Dakota, the Republic of Lakotah was declared. Following the creation of the Republic, a group of Lakotah used dynamite to deface Mount Rushmore in an act of radical nationalism.
As Lakotah consolidated its control in the Dakotas, there were continued calls by Lakota leaders to expand into old Lakota territory in Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana. Russell Means, an important leader in Lakotah, was particularly adamant about this. The only obstacle, however, was the growing power of the State of Wyoming which had managed to remain relatively united after Doomsday and was now beginning to expand its influence into fractured Montana. Some Wyoming organized expeditions father north to find out what happened to Canada even came into contact with the various Canadian survivor communities on the Great Plains. Lakotah analysts all agreed that unless Lakotah struck soon they would be unable to defeat Wyoming.
In 1986, Wyoming was dealt a harsh blow by the death of three-term Governor Edgar Herschler. The death of the man who had taken the state through its darkest days, however, would signal even worse times for Wyoming. Throughout 1986 and into 1987, increased raids by nomads coming out of Lakotah territory rocked the communities of Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska. Distracted by the raids, Wyoming and the other communities were unprepared when in May 23, 1987, Lakotah "war bands" attacked neighboring towns signaling the official start of the Lakotah War.
Throughout 1987 and 1988, the Lakotah won early victories and eventually besieged the city-state of Billings, Montana. The tide, however, began to turn against the Lakotah. First, Governor Mike Sullivan of Wyoming was successful in convincing the scattered survivor communities and the non-involved nomad clans of the threat that the Lakotah posed to the Great Plains. Volunteers and supplies reached Wyoming from as far north as Canada and as far south as Kansas. Second, Raymond Breedlove "Ray" Hunkins was called into active duty to take over command of the allied forces. A Marine veteran, rancher and law enforcement officer, Hunkins was granted the rank of General. He soon proved to be an effective leader and was able to organize the ragtag army into what was eventually called the "Continental Army."
American Federal Account[]
The growing unrest in the Dakotas coincided with the breakdown of federal power in Colorado. Cheyenne Mountain had been built to survive an apocalypse, but routine problems with its computers, generators, and other equipment were beginning to add up so that the facility was increasingly difficult to maintain. Then in November 1986, the nominal head of the nearby emergency federal administration, former House Speaker Tip O'Neill, was assassinated by a disgruntled survivor from the Denver suburbs. O'Neill had only two relatively unknown former cabinet officials to succeed him, Donald Hodel and Terrell Bell. The pair agreed that their mission could not be carried out in Colorado. They considered relocating to Camp Hale, an abandoned army post even deeper in the mountains. But in the end they accepted an offer from Governor Sullivan to go to Wyoming. The forces beneath Cheyenne Mountain likewise began to relocate, removing any equipment that could be used and mothballing the bunker.
Cheyenne Mountain had not held any combat units, but the arrival of hundreds of men with military training, together with a stockpile of arms and fuel, was a great boost to Wyoming's defenses as the region slid toward war. The NORAD personnel reinforced the Continental Army and took charge of much of its training and logistics. Meanwhile the arrival of high-ranking federal officials, and their cooperation with the state government, helped the state of Wyoming to act as the natural leader in the ensuing conflict.
Nebraska Account[]
In 1987 the area experienced increased raids by nomads allied with the expansionist Lakotah. After a raid by a Lakotah war band into their territory in 1988, the Association voted to send a contingent of volunteers to help the state of Wyoming and its allies fight in the Lakotah War. This act of cooperation convinced the Association members to join the Provisional United States in 1992, becoming one of the five founding states.
By early 1989 the Lakotah had been driven back to their pre-war borders. Meanwhile the coalition that Russell Means had managed to create to start the war had collapsed as the war turned against the Lakotah. Rodney Bordeaux established a new coalition government that presented the Wyoming-led alliance with a peace offering. At the border town of Breach, North Dakota, General Hunkins and Chief Facilitator Bordeaux signed a peace treaty ending the Lakotah War. The allied survivors communities agreed to recognize the independence of the Lakotah territory in return for Lakotah recognizing their independence as well. Though a demand to improve human rights for non-Lakotah was refused during negotiations, the Lakotah did agree to allow anyone in their territory to leave for other western states.
Montana Account[]
Doomsday was a disaster to most people in North America, but to many groups, including many Native American groups, it was an opportunity for true independence - and power. Russell Means, taking the Lakota name Oyate Wacinyapin (Works for the People), had been active in the American Indian Movement (AIM) since 1968, a year before the group occupied federal property - Alcatraz Island off the California coast. For a little over nineteen months, including the whole year of 1969, the occupation was used to secure concessions from the US government. Doomsday, which had severed all communication from the government in Washington, DC, afforded the still powerful AIM to rise to prominence among Tribal communities all over North America. Means' tribe, the Lakota Sioux, was among the most prominent.
However, when the Lakota began to expand from their traditional lands in the western Dakotas into Montana, things became serious for Governor Schwinden. Billings, out of necessity, had become a self-contained city-state. While representing the people of all of Montana, communication was so bad that no legislators from any of the districts but those around Billings had been able to sustain any form of state-wide government. However, the Lakota had known that was where the majority of "white men" were. Working his way across the state, Means and his war bands took control of villages and small towns, sometimes without much of a fight, on their way to Montana's largest town. In February on 1988, Miles City fell in a bloody battle which resulted in 2,374 militia and civilian deaths. By June, the Lakota had brought in re-enforcements and staged a siege of Billings from their new stronghold in Miles city.
By the time the government of Wyoming had mustered a volunteer army, under the command of General Ray Hunkins, surrounded the Lakota forces, Ted Schwinden had fallen in battle as he had taken personal responsibility to lead the "Billings Brigade" of a variety of trained military personnel stationed in and around the city for the past three years. The divided fronts led to the final surrender of the Lakota on March 10, 1989. New governor Stan Stevens, formerly president of the state Senate, was one of the signatories of the peace treaty signed in Beach, a border town of what had been North Dakota. Most Montanans were not at all pleased that the Lakota had been granted sovereignty over part of two former US states in that treaty.
An uneasy peace settled over the state for two years as Hunkin's forces kept troops in Billings and Miles City. Every town with any autonomy at all had at least one detachment of soldiers to protect it. Meanwhile, things were happening in Wyoming.
Wyoming[]
On New Year’s Day 1986, Wyoming wasn’t the only entity in the area on the road to recovery. The Lakota had seized power in the Western Dakotas and had spent most of the last two years consolidating their control. With Western Dakota firmly under Lakota rule, the new republic began debating its course of action. Some preferred to focus on rebuilding what they had. The majority, however, was firmly nationalist. They wanted to restore their old lands. This dilemma was solved for them when they received news in February that Governor Herschler had died. With Wyoming’s main unifying force gone, the Lakota judged that now would be the right time to begin preparing for an invasion. The Lakota began carrying out raids up and down Wyoming’s eastern border, on occasion attempting to get supplies, but primarily to gauge the capabilities of the Wyoming Defense Force. Meanwhile, in Torrington, Mike Sullivan, elected as Wyoming’s first Lieutenant Governor in fall 1984, was sworn in as the new Governor of Wyoming. Sullivan made a speech shortly after, where he committed to continuing Herschler’s work on restoring the state. The raids, however, required that Sullivan begin beefing up Wyoming’s defenses. He ordered iron mines near Atlantic City and Sunrise reopened so that Wyoming would have material to make new weapons. To accomplish this, he used his emergency powers to draft whatever gunsmiths he could find into the Wyoming Defense Force and set them to work making guns and bullets. He also fully renovated Fort Laramie into a proper army headquarters. Throughout the remainder of 1986 and continuing through spring 1987, the Lakota raids rocked not only Wyoming but surviving towns in Montana and Nebraska. The raids greatly sapped the state's resources, as Governor Sullivan was forced to spend the vast majority of his time responding to the raids. Most raids turned out to be minor but threatening enough to force large scale armed deployments by the WDF. Sullivan attempted negotiations with the Lakota, but the Lakota kept demanding the cession of Campbell, Crook, and Weston Counties, demands Sullivan outright refused. By December 1986, it was obvious the Lakota were stalling for time. On Christmas Day, the Lakota staged their most aggressive raid yet. A church in Lusk was set on fire with the congregation inside. 79 people were burned alive. A telegram arrived in Torrington at precisely noon, signed by the leadership of the Republic of Lakotah. It was a final demand that all whites leave Campbell, Crook, and Weston Counties and that they be turned over within a month. Sullivan's reply was just three words, but it captured the mindset of all of Wyoming: "Go to Hell."
Colorado Account[]
In the aftermath of Doomsday the towns of Fort Collins and Greeley formed an alliance to secure resources and deal with refugees. The students and faculty from the Colorado State University were a key part in the aftermath, especially those studying to become doctors whose knowledge was applied to taking care of the thousands of wounded streaming out of the Denver area. The loose alliance between Fort Collins and Greeley soon became organized into the Union of Colorado in 1987. Shortly thereafter the Union sent an expedition to help its northern neighbors in the Lakotah War. The Union was one of the five founding states of the restored United States, becoming the new State of Colorado.
Kansas Account[]
In these chaotic days, state representative and speaker of the Kansas House Mike Hayden (who had been at home in Colby when his office and many of his friends were destroyed) became a natural leader among the survivor communities that became the de facto "state of Kansas." As a result, he became the interim "governor" of the settlements, serving as a representative to the constitutional convention after serving as an officer in the Kansas militia during the Lakota War. As a result, he is considered the 41st governor of Kansas by modern political historians.
By the end of the Lakota War in nearby Wyoming and Montana, the survivors in western Kansas had begun to form associations to better cope with life cut off from friends and relatives in other parts of North America. The historic town of Dodge City became a regional gathering place for influential leaders which included former county governments, state representatives, and federal employees who had been serving in federal court houses in Dodge City and Garden City. Mike Hayden served as "governor" when the association declared itself the "Free State of West Kansas" in 1991.
This independence, though, lasted less than a year as the population overwhelmingly agreed to rejoin then Provisional United States under the restored constitution of 1991. The state's official name reverted to simply "Kansas" in 1992.
War in Collective Memory - Considerations[]
With the advent of the founding of the Provisional United States and later Lakotan accession to the North American Union, the war remains a sore spot in the collective memory of the Union's residents. Nevertheless, a consensus has formed that the wire transpired due to the "rock bottom" of the late 1980s, a time when the last of pre-War food, fuel, medical, and military supply reserves had become completely exhausted, and the full weight of the new world came crashing down on the North American people collectively. The conflict is especially remembered even today for its destruction of civil infrastructure by both parties to deny the enemy advancements during the years -- hundreds of bridges, roads, highway overpasses, tunnels, piers, grain silos and hospitals were destroyed during the conflict, with the majority never having been rebuild. It was one one many contributing reasons to why sustained "contact" between North American survivor states remained so difficult going into the 90s.
The Lakotah War is the main focus of "Modern History" - a senior year history course for NAU high school students from Fargo to Porcupine, Fort Collins-Greeley to Napa Valley. Curiously enough, the Republic of Lincoln's scholars and historians, many of them themselves veterans of the battles against the Platt River Raiders, far-right groups, rogue Lakotah war parties and renegade U.S. military outfits, have been an unbiased authority in tallying the numbers of the war crimes committed, towns razed, and other figures, with the League of Nations using the Lincoln accounts on this matter as a primary source for studying what is to them a faraway conflict. Although some far-right or Lakotan nationalists, primarily of the "baby boomer" generation, protest the modern consensus that the War was an ugly affair on all sides that must never repeat, lest their fragile new prosperity be destroyed.