The Fort Laramie Treaty in 1868 stated that the Great Sioux Nation Reservation that included the Black Hills in western South Dakota be exempt from any and all white settlement until the end of time. With this the tribe was given protected hunting rights under the treaty. Until European Americans discovered gold in the black hills around 1874 and from that moment the Sioux reservation and its peoples would, again, have their lives disturbed by the government and its “promises”. The famous General George A. Custer decided to fund an investigative expedition in the Black Hills to see if the rumors of gold were true and not only did he find that the rumors were indeed true, but that there was much more wealth to be had than the gold that the
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With this newly discovered wealth settlers and gold miners began flocking to the Hills. They all wanted to cash in on these treasures, everyone including the United States Government. The Government decided that since there was so much wealth at stake, it was only reasonable to extract the land from the Sioux. They initially tried doing this through negotiations, which failed. So they then resorted to using military force. General Custer led an attack on the Little Bighorn River village with the force of 700 men to expel the Indians. This battle alone included 268 casualties including General Custer and two of his brothers. This attack later became known as Custer’s Last Stand and it spelled the victory for the Indian Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Unfortunately this victory was short-lived, most of the Indians who survived this battle were later forced to surrender to the U.S. Army and were restrained on a reservation without access to their weapons and horses. They then became dependent on the Government for food and shelter. Shortly after this dependency was created George Manypenny commenced the Sioux with a new treaty that they were forced to sign, because they were dependent on the Government for food and the threat of
With this newly discovered wealth settlers and gold miners began flocking to the Hills. They all wanted to cash in on these treasures, everyone including the United States Government. The Government decided that since there was so much wealth at stake, it was only reasonable to extract the land from the Sioux. They initially tried doing this through negotiations, which failed. So they then resorted to using military force. General Custer led an attack on the Little Bighorn River village with the force of 700 men to expel the Indians. This battle alone included 268 casualties including General Custer and two of his brothers. This attack later became known as Custer’s Last Stand and it spelled the victory for the Indian Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Unfortunately this victory was short-lived, most of the Indians who survived this battle were later forced to surrender to the U.S. Army and were restrained on a reservation without access to their weapons and horses. They then became dependent on the Government for food and shelter. Shortly after this dependency was created George Manypenny commenced the Sioux with a new treaty that they were forced to sign, because they were dependent on the Government for food and the threat of