The Snake War was a war fought by the United States against the Northern Paiutes in Oregon, Idaho and California between 1864 and 1868.

The location of new mines near Boise in 1862 and in the Owyhee Canyonlands in 1863 contributed a great deal to Native American unrest as an influx of white settlers decended on the area. This brought on a war with various Shoshoni bands in southwest Idaho, eastern Oregon, northern California, and northern Nevada. The Shoshoni, called "Snakes" by the white settlers, led the fighting in southern Idaho.