The Little Bighorn
“I could not see what was happening in the village below. It was all dust and cries and thunder” Black Elk
“We were terribly alone on that dangerous hilltop. We were a million miles from nowhere. And death was all around us.” Charles Windolph
“Hokahey, brother! This life will not last forever” White Bull addressing Crazy Horse
“I am a Fox. I am supposed to die. If there is anything difficult, If there is anything dangerous, It is mine to do.” Kit Fox warrior society song
We are right around the 148th anniversary of the 1876 battle of the Little Bighorn. Back in 1868, representatives for the U.S. government sat down with Lakota and Cheyenne leaders to sign the Fort Laramie Treaty. Among other provisions, the treaty guaranteed that the Black Hills would belong to the tribes unless 75% of them agreed to sell the land. But just a few years later, a military expedition led by George Armstrong Custer discovered gold in the Black Hills and everything changed. Gold prospectors flooded the Black Hills in violation of the treaty. When the US government tried to buy the land, a group of Lakota warriors showed up in the middle of negotiations chanting “The Black Hills is my land and I love it. And whoever threatens it will hear this gun.” The negotiators got the message, quickly hurried back to Washington, and told the Grant administration that the Lakota wouldn’t sell. The only way to take the land was by breaking the treaty, and conquer it by military force. Blatantly breaking a treaty wasn’t ideal, but it was the mid-1870s and probably about twelve people in US were overly concerned about Native rights. A recession had affected the economy in 1873, and a gold rush would be most welcome. Plus, this would provide an excellent excuse for completing the conquest of the West. In light of all this, President Grant and his advisors thought about it for roughly 0.7 seconds and decided that war was just fine.
The Lakota and Cheyenne understood that the odds of long-term success were pretty much none. They were a few thousand people standing against a nation of millions. And the bison on which they depended were quickly getting exterminated. But as Sitting Bull once said, “I’d rather die as a Lakota than live as a white man.” So, while some Lakota and Cheyenne accepted to surrender and live on reservations, others were willing to join Sitting Bull and make their last stand, because giving up their way of life was unthinkable.
In June of 1876, the army launched a three-pronged campaign to find Sitting Bull & Co. and defeat them once and for all. Things didn’t start well for the army, when on June 17 Lakota and Cheyenne discovered the column led by Brigadier General Crook. After a long battle, Crook decided he wasn’t so hot about fighting the tribes anymore and ended his summer campaign. It was a big victory for the Native side.
Just a little over a week later, Custer’s Crow and Arikara scouts came back with news they had discovered Sitting Bull’s camp. They warned that attacking it would be a terrible idea since it was the biggest camp they had ever seen. Custer was obsessed with glory, and had a reputation as a daredevil. So, not surprisingly, he dismissed their concerns and led his soldiers toward the camp. What followed was the battle of the Little Bighorn. Lakota and Cheyenne fought for their lives as their camp was attacked. Just as one of the Crow scouts had predicted, Custer and his men would never live to see the sun going down over the mountains that evening.
When news of what had happened spread around the nation, the country was busy celebrating the 100th year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. News that the army had been beaten by the tribes caused such an uproar that, in the months to come, the government would pour tons of resources in tracking down and defeating Lakota and Cheyenne. The battle of the Little Bighorn had been the swan song for the tribes.
Two of the main Lakota leaders, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, would both be murdered after surrendering. In a comical move, the US government tried to save face by ‘buying’ the Black Hills after the war. About 10% of tribal members agreed to sell (and that’s including people who signed multiple times, dead people who miraculously signed their name, etc.) The requirement had been 75% but Congress decided math was just an opinion and considered the sale legal and satisfactory. In 1980, after decades of arguing in court, the Supreme Court acknowledged that the Black Hills were illegally taken and awarded monetary compensation to the tribes. Despite tremendous poverty, the tribes refused the money, preferring to continue to fight to this day to try to get some of their lands back.
In case you are interested in this history, I know a podcast that covered it in quite a bit of depth… :)
Episodes 7-10 of History on Fire cover the life of Crazy Horse
Episodes 16-18 are about the war for the Black Hills and the Little Bighorn
Episodes 54-58 focus on the life of Sitting Bull, the Ghost Dance, and the Wounded Knee massacre.