In the winter of 1861 and 1862, two wars were under way on American soil.

In addition to the Civil War, American Indians fought among themselves and with Union and Confederate forces to save their native lands.

On the plains of Kansas, several tribes -- starving and near death -- came together to eventually join forces with Union troops.

Among them was the elderly Creek chief, Opothleyahola.

In July 1861, a faction of the Creek had signed a treaty with Confederate troops pledging thier allegiance.

Opothleyahola chose to remain neutral. Several thousand tribal members chose to follow him, along with about 500 slaves and free blacks.

Harassed by the Confederate, Opothleyahola fled to Kansas, where he hoped to escape persecution.

There were no Confederate forts in Kansas.

Opothleyahola was joined by a number of Seminoles, Cherokees, and others from the southern Plains.

With little food or clothing for protection from a near-blinding winter storm, the Indian survivors reached Fall River, 60 miles west of Humboldt, in late December 1861.

"Dotting the trail for 300 miles behind them lay the bodies of their dead and the bloody tracks of the barefooted," read one government record.

Army surgeon Archibald B. Campbell, who provided medical aid to the Indians, wrote:

"They greatly need medical assistance; many have their toes frozen off, others have feet wounded by sharp ice or branches of trees lying on the snow . . . few have shoes or moccasins. They suffer with inflammatory diseases of the chest, throat and eyes."

Other Indians were driven inot Kansas that winter, including Quapaw, Seneca, Shawnee and Wichita tribes.

They were gathered in a camp near the Verdigris River and Neosho Valley, suffering with frostbite, smallpox, measles, mumps, diphtheria and pneumonia. Many slept on the bare ground.

By the time the winter was over, more than 7,000 Indians had sought refuge in Kansas.

To feed and clothe them Kansas Sen. James H. Lane offered to make the Indians Union soldiers. They were expected to assist in liberating and reoccupying their own homeland from Confederate troops and tribes.

Three Indian Home Guard regiments were formed to fight on the Union side.

Two regiments and one cavalry battalion served with the Confederacy during the Civil War.