From 1877 to 1886 the regiment was in Washington, Oregon and Idaho Territory campaigning against the Nez Perce, then the Bannocks and then a band of the Eastern Shoshones called the Sheepeaters. In 1886 it moved to Fort Omaha, Nebraska to help fight the Sioux. The 2nd Infantry was on the Pine Ridge Reservation on 29 December 1890 when the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred and, although the regiment was not involved, one officer from the regiment was wounded there. The regiment remained on the western plains until 1898.