Army on the Frontier

The "Army on the Frontier" is a term applied to the activities of the United States Army stationed near the frontier settlements from the beginning of national existence until about 1890, the end of the settlers' frontier.

The principal functions performed by the U.S. Army were:

• guarding the frontier settlements in forts from hostile indigenous peoples;
• aiding the settlement of the West by developing and protecting the communication between the older settlements and the frontier, by exploring the West, constructing roads and defending the overland trails, water routes and later telegraph and railroad lines;
• policing the frontier until the civil governments could maintain order.