The Rogue River Wars was an armed conflict in 1855–56 between the US Army, local militias and volunteers, and the Native American tribes commonly grouped under the designation of Rogue River Indians, in the Rogue River Valley area of what today is southern Oregon. While the conflict designation usually includes only the hostilities that took place during the mentioned period of time, numerous previous skirmishes had been escalating in the area, eventually breaking into open warfare.