March 15, 1858: After fighting American troops for almost 25 years, Billy Bowlegs, the Seminole chief who led the resistance to relocation in the Second and Third Seminole Wars, and his followers agree to go to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).
March 16, 1622: According to ‘Mourt’s Relations’, Samoset, an Abnaki from Maine, is the first native to make contact with the English at Plymouth, MA. He greets them in English he learned from English fishermen he encountered in present-day Bristol, ME.
March 17, 1876: General George Crook's advance column attacked a Sioux/Cheyenne camp on the Powder River in South Dakota, mistakenly believing it to be the encampment of Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse. The people were driven from their lodges and many were killed. The lodges and all the winter supplies were burned and the horse herd captured.
March 18, 1877: More Native Americans visit Col. Nelson Miles, the see if he will negotiate on surrender terms. Miles informs the large group of Chiefs that his terms have not changed, with the exception that they can surrender at an alternative agency than originally stated. Miles also informs them he will wait no longer for a reply. If the Chiefs do not surrender soon, his troops will be deployed against them.
Little Hawk, Crazy Horse's uncle, agrees to bring the Native Americans into Miles' camp or one of the agencies. Nine important natives remain with Miles as hostages, as a sign of good faith.
March 19, 1840: The Southern Cheyenne hold several white prisoners. They request a meeting to discuss peace, and to trade prisoners.
Today, 65 Comanches, including Muguara and 11 other chiefs, bring one prisoner, Matilda Lockhart, to the San Antonio council house.
They tell the white representatives Hugh McCloud (Adjutant General of the Texas Army), William Cooke, and William Fisher that each prisoner must be released through an additional meeting. Lockhart was mutilated while in Comanche hands and this incenses the whites. Armed men surround the Native Americans, and tell them they will be held hostage until all white prisoners are released. A fight erupts, and seven whites, 33 Comanches – including all of the Chiefs – are killed. The other Comanches are captured.
Word of the incident gets back to their tribe.
March 20, 1699: Continuing his exploration up the Mississippi River, French explorer Lemoyne d'Iberville will visits the village of the Houma.
March 21, 1883: On this date, Chato, Bonito and Chihuahua raid a mining town near Tombstone, AZ, seeking ammunition and other supplies. This is just the pretext General George Crook needs to mount a raid, attacking Chato's stronghold in Mexico. By 1886, Chato will be helping Crook pursue Geronimo in Mexico.