This investigation examines the historical question of “to what extent did the Black Hills Gold Rush of 1874 lead to the Great Sioux War of 1876?”. The key sources chosen to support this investigation are a book of compiled historical information from the United States Department of the Interior and an interview of a Native American woman that lived through both the Black Hills Gold Rush and the Great Sioux War. These are relevant because one has access to an extensive database of government resources relating to the topic and the other is a first hand account of the time period.
Source A. United States Department of the Interior, Native American Treaties and Broken Promises: 1851 to 1877
This secondary source of data was collected and compiled …show more content…
The Black Hills were part of the Dakota Territory and was a rich reserve of natural resources used by the Sioux Indians for many years. Though the region also contained populations of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, they were collectively referred to when in mention of the Sioux, who were the more dominant majority of the region. The region had a long history of rumors of gold that attracted gold seekers and settlers in the early 1800s. The initial encroachments of white people on the Sioux homeland were easily repelled until the United States government began establishing military outposts in the region. After years of conflict during 1851-1868 between the U.S. Army, gold seekers, and the Sioux, the government sought peace by concluding a treaty with some negotiating Sioux tribes. In this agreement, known as the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, the U.S. government promised to withdraw American troops from the area and officially recognized that the Sioux nations had exclusive ownership of the Black Hills region. In efforts to create and promote peace between the two civilizations, a vast territory of land around the Black Hills was designated as the Great Sioux Reservation and promised to be a safe haven from white settlement. It was intended to ensure a long lasting peace by preventing settlers from encroaching on Sioux …show more content…
The causes and consequences become apparent when these two events are examined side by side in relation to each other. The Black Hills Gold Rush lead to the mass encroachment and trespass of gold miners and prospectors on designated Indian territory without proper government intervention, violating the Treaty of Ft. Laramie. This caused a great distrust in the U.S. government, a factor that played into why the Sioux continued to resist. Then, provoked into acting upon their best interests, the antagonized Sioux countered the encroachments by attacking settlements and prospectors drawn in by the Black Hills Gold Rush. The actions taken to defend their lands were deemed hostile by the U.S. government and the military was called upon to intervene. Ultimately, it was the harsh reservation policies resulting from conflict created by the Black Hills Gold Rush that drove the Sioux nation to resist against the U.S. Army in the Great Sioux War. The answer to this investigation is only reached when one decides how far back to look in history. That is why the answer to the what caused the Great Sioux War can have multiple correct interpretations. The one important thing to know is that the Black Hills Gold Rush of 1874 predates all the other causes and is what directly set in motion the chain of events that culminated in the Great Sioux War of
Source A. United States Department of the Interior, Native American Treaties and Broken Promises: 1851 to 1877
This secondary source of data was collected and compiled …show more content…
The Black Hills were part of the Dakota Territory and was a rich reserve of natural resources used by the Sioux Indians for many years. Though the region also contained populations of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, they were collectively referred to when in mention of the Sioux, who were the more dominant majority of the region. The region had a long history of rumors of gold that attracted gold seekers and settlers in the early 1800s. The initial encroachments of white people on the Sioux homeland were easily repelled until the United States government began establishing military outposts in the region. After years of conflict during 1851-1868 between the U.S. Army, gold seekers, and the Sioux, the government sought peace by concluding a treaty with some negotiating Sioux tribes. In this agreement, known as the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, the U.S. government promised to withdraw American troops from the area and officially recognized that the Sioux nations had exclusive ownership of the Black Hills region. In efforts to create and promote peace between the two civilizations, a vast territory of land around the Black Hills was designated as the Great Sioux Reservation and promised to be a safe haven from white settlement. It was intended to ensure a long lasting peace by preventing settlers from encroaching on Sioux …show more content…
The causes and consequences become apparent when these two events are examined side by side in relation to each other. The Black Hills Gold Rush lead to the mass encroachment and trespass of gold miners and prospectors on designated Indian territory without proper government intervention, violating the Treaty of Ft. Laramie. This caused a great distrust in the U.S. government, a factor that played into why the Sioux continued to resist. Then, provoked into acting upon their best interests, the antagonized Sioux countered the encroachments by attacking settlements and prospectors drawn in by the Black Hills Gold Rush. The actions taken to defend their lands were deemed hostile by the U.S. government and the military was called upon to intervene. Ultimately, it was the harsh reservation policies resulting from conflict created by the Black Hills Gold Rush that drove the Sioux nation to resist against the U.S. Army in the Great Sioux War. The answer to this investigation is only reached when one decides how far back to look in history. That is why the answer to the what caused the Great Sioux War can have multiple correct interpretations. The one important thing to know is that the Black Hills Gold Rush of 1874 predates all the other causes and is what directly set in motion the chain of events that culminated in the Great Sioux War of