31 January 1876

31 January 1876The Great Sioux War

The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations which occurred in 1876 and 1877 between the Lakota Sioux and the Northern Cheyenne vs. the United States

After gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874, the US government tried to convince the Native Americans to sell the Black Hills. When that effort failed, the government ordered all Indians living outside the reservations to return to them by January 31, 1876, or be sent back by force.

Traditionally, the United States military and historians place the Lakota at the center of the story, especially given their numbers, but some Native Americans believe the Cheyenne were the primary target of the U.S. campaign.

Among the many battles and skirmishes of the war was the Battle of the Little Bighorn, often known as Custer's Last Stand, the most storied of the many encounters between the U.S. army and mounted Plains Indians*. That Indian victory notwithstanding, the U.S. got advantage from national resources to force the Indians to surrender, primarily by attacking and destroying their encampments and property.

*Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies

The Great Sioux War took place under the presidencies of Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes and involved the Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne tribes.

The Agreement of 1877 officially annexed Sioux land and permanently established Indian reservations.

In the first major fight of the war, on March 17, 1876, about 300 men under Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds attacked approximately 225 Northern Cheyenne warriors in the Battle of Powder River which ended with a United States victory. During the fighting, the Cheyenne were forced to retreat with their families further up the Powder River, leaving behind large quantities of weapons and ammunition.

Next came the major Battle of Rosebud on June 17 when 1,500 Cheyenne warriors, led by Crazy Horse himself, defeated a force of 1,300 Americans under General George Crook.

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Crook retreated which helped lead to the infamous Battle of Little Big Horn beginning on June 25. Lieutenant Colonel George Custer, commanding a force of over 600 troops, was badly defeated with the loss of over 300 men killed or wounded, including himself.

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After the defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876, Congress responded by attaching what the Sioux call the "sell or starve" rider to the Indian Appropriations Act of 1876 which cut off all rations for the Sioux until they terminated hostilities and ceded the Black Hills to the United States

SITTING BULL

Custer and the last of his men were killed and buried here. The Indian village was on the other side of the line of trees marking the Little Bighorn River. (To visit the old battlefield today it is necessary to enter the Crow Indian Reservation – it was exactly the same in 1876.)

Within the next few years, the Lakota and neighbouring tribes faced the genocide of their culture, traditions, land—everything was gone. Sacred places like Wind Cave, Devil’s Tower, Black Elk Peak, and Six Grandfathers Mountain (now Mount Rushmore) were now in the hands of the Americans. This was devastating.

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TIMELINE part 1

Fall of 1874

August 2nd, 1874

June 8th, 1874

1868

1875

The government offers $6 million to the Lakota Indians in exchange for their land. The chief from the tribe, Sitting Bull, declines the incentive.

General George Custer began to explore the land of the Lakota Indians

Miners across the nation prepare to go to the Black Hills region to look for gold, disregarding the Treaty of Fort Laramie.

Gold is found in the Black Hills

Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed, giving the Indians right to the land

TIMELINE

December 1875

June 25th, 1876

1876

1877

The Native Americansrefuse thus beginning the Black Hills War.

Battle of Little Bighorn

The Great Sioux/The Black Hills War ended.Most of the Native Americans surrendered or fled to Canada.

The governmentorders the Sioux/Dakotato move to by January 31, 1876.

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