Part 9 of a series that looks at the Great Indian Wars The Black Hills were a treasure trove that both natives and whites wanted all to themselves. With both unrelenting in their pursuits, blood spilt across the landscape. The federal government opened Black Hills to gold mining in 1875 but Native Americans declined to leave the region because of its alleged sacred connotations. The United States military congregated to forcibly displace their warriors, but troops overlooked orders and attacked villages. These attacks were not the only misdeeds to committed. Buffalo was a major resource for its meat and hide. The millions of beasts roving the plains in the 1860s effectively vanished within two decades as hunters from across the United States and abroad drove the herds to near extinction. One source defined an 1877 horseback expedition that was so unrelenting “they had killed enough buffaloes to fill fifty carts with the meat.”[1] The threat of starvation moved both sides toward war. What would transpire next would become known as one of the greatest defeats in American history, and either a symbol of bravery or cowardice, depending on the viewpoint. The Battle of the Little Bighorn, frequently denoted to as Custer's Last Stand, was a meeting between joint armed forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The encounter, which transpired on June 25 and 26, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in the Montana Territory, was a devastating triumph for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho. They were commanded by numerous major war leaders, comprising of Crazy Horse, war leader of the Oglala Lakota, and Sitting Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man. The United States Seventh Cavalry, containing the Custer Battalion, a group of 700 men headed by George Armstrong Custer, famed officer and cavalry commander, suffered a stark defeat. 5 of the Seventh Cavalry's companies were crushed and Custer was slain (as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law). George Flanders, a private in a group arriving in Black Hills on June 26, 1876, described the Cheyenne Indian account that “Custer had received a wound in the hip and was unable to get up, but continued shooting until he had used all except one of his cartridges and with that last bullet shot himself.”[2] The overall United States casualty tally was 268 dead and 55 injured. Native American losses have never been determined and assessments differ extensively, from as few as 36 dead to as many as 300.[3] The Sioux chief Red Horse told Colonel W. H. Wood in 1877 that the Native American suffered 136 dead and 160 injured during the conflict.[4] In 1881, Red Horse also told Dr. C. E. McChesney, an agent stationed in the Montana territory, the same figures but in a sequence of drawings done by Red Horse to illuminate the fight, Red Horse illustrated only 60 figures signifying the Lakota and Cheyenne dead. Either way, the United States was decimated, figuratively and spiritually. It was no time for the native forces to relax, as they needed to press forward to secure the Black Hills. Immediately after the Custer force was defeated, the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne reorganized to attack Colonel Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen. The combat was unrelenting until dark and for much of the following day, with the result in uncertainty. Reno accredited Benteen's governance with warding off a severe attack on the perimeter held by Companies H and M. On June 26, the support under General Alfred Terry advanced from the north, and the Indians drew off in the opposed direction. A Crow scout named White Man Runs Him was actually the first to tell Terry's soldiers that Custer's men had been devastated.[5] News of the rout reached the East as the United States was celebrating its centennial[6] and the stunned populace who were familiar to theater of war conquests and progressively convinced of their intrinsic advantage and entitlement to Manifest Destiny. The Army began to examine what happened, even though its efficiency was hindered by an anxiety for survivors, and the repute of the field marshals involved. Custer’s demise spurred the military. In following months, they pursued Sioux and Cheyenne soldiers and required them to relocate to reservations. Justification was warranted in the mind of the native leaders. The downfall of Custer was indispensable. The Sand Creek Massacre had shown that any other conclusion would have resulted in the annihilation of the village complemented by the rape of women and slaughter of children. Crazy Horse rationalized the incident: They said we massacred him, but he would have done the same to us. Our first impulse was to escape . . . but we were so hemmed in we had to fight.[7] The defeat of Custer had been a pyrrhic victory for Native Americans. While it had been a wide-ranging military achievement, the obliteration of United States forces had been an undesirable certainty and few were misled as to the significances. Washington had been presented with an appropriate justification to extinguish those who had challenged Manifest Destiny and antagonistic expansionism. From the Indian viewpoint, the repercussion of the Battle of the Little Bighorn had sweeping costs. It was the beginning of the end of the Indian Wars, and has even been mentioned to be "the Indians' last stand"[8] in the region. Within 48 hours after the conflict, the large base camp on the Little Bighorn splintered into smaller collections as the resources of grass for the horses and game could not endure a huge flock of individuals. The breakup of tribes was only the beginning, as natives would be thrown to all corners of the country. Oglala Sioux Black Elk described the migration this way: We fled all night… My two younger brothers and I rode in a pony-drag, and my mother put some young pups in with us. They were always trying to crawl out and I was always putting them back in, so I didn't sleep much.[9] The dispersed Sioux and Cheyenne indulged and celebrated during July with no menace from United States soldiers. After their revelries many of the Indians skidded back to the reservation, conceivably recognizing that the summer of 1876 would be the last of their customary beliefs. Soon, the amount of soldiers who still stayed at large and aggressive amounted to only about 600.[10] Both Generals George Crook and Alfred Terry persistence fixed for 7 weeks after the Bighorn encounter, anticipating assistances and reluctant to endeavor out against the Indians until they had at least 2,000 men. Crook and Terry finally took the field against the Indians in August. General Nelson A. Miles took command of the struggle in October 1876. In May 1877, Sitting Bull bolted to Canada. Within days, Crazy Horse submitted at Fort Robinson. The Great Sioux War concluded on May 7 with Colonel Nelson A. Miles' rout of a lingering band of Miniconjou Sioux. The fight was over. But the battle was really only in its infant stages, and animosities continued on, even into the 20th century. As for the Black Hills, the Manypenny Commission organized an agreement in which the Sioux would yield the land to United States or the government would finish providing provisions to the reservations. Susceptible to famine, the Indians relinquished Paha Sapa (Black Hills) to the United States,[11] but the Sioux never recognized the legality of the contract. After lobbying Congress to create a forum to resolve their claim, and following legal action bridging 40 years, the United States Supreme Court in the 1980 decision United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians recognized that the United States had taken the Black Hills without just recompense. The Sioux declined the money offered, and continue to contend on their right to inhabit the land. [1] Tejada [2] Tejada [3] Hardorff 13. [4] Graham 60. [5] Brust 57 [6] The New-York Times [7] White 86 [8] Newsweek [9] Welch 194 [10] Ambrose 151-152 [11] Welch 196-197
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Ryan LancasterThe internet is a scary place. You don't know who to trust when it comes to information sometimes, especially when it involves history. Well weary traveler, look no further. Professor Lancaster has got you covered. After receiving my masters in American history, I wanted to put that rather expensive piece of paper to use and create a curriculum of my choosing to inform the unwashed masses of their history. Also, I want to be an internet celebrity. Archives
August 2018
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