By Patrick Allitt, Emory University
The Black Hills of South Dakota was established as a reservation by treaty in 1868. But when General George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills in 1874, he reported that many of the Creeks were gold-bearing, and that had the effect of setting off a new gold rush. In violation of the treaty, which specified that the U.S. Army would prevent white settlers from going into reservations, white prospectors went pouring into this area.
Battle of the Little Bighorn
In the face of the great incursion from the whites, Indian groups from the Black Hills went to war against the American army in the summer of 1876. Sitting Bull, one of the leaders, had a vision in which he saw hundreds of soldiers falling upside down into his camp, and he interpreted the dream as the premonition of a great victory.
Custer, meanwhile, underestimated the size of the force arrayed against him. Usually, the Indian wars had been encounters between very small groups, and what was so exceptional about this time was that a large number of the Indians had temporarily gathered together, settling their own differences in the hope of uniting against the American army. The result was, of course, that Custer’s force was annihilated at the battle of the Little Bighorn.
No sooner had the battle of the Little Bighorn taken place than the victors had to disperse. They weren’t able to stay together to consolidate their victory because, as hunters and gatherers, they had to go out in search of food, and they had to go out in search of pasture for their animals.
This is a transcript from the video series A History of the United States, 2nd Edition. Watch it now, on Wondrium.
Army’s Retaliation
We can imagine what a shock the news of the battle was, back East. This was 1876. It was the nation’s 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Everyone was getting ready to celebrate in Philadelphia and Washington, and suddenly this incredible news came through of an American army column being wiped out by the Indians. Of course, the army responded with intensified efforts to destroy armed resistance of all kinds, and the army campaigned throughout the following winter.
The Indians had a hunting and a fighting season, and they wouldn’t fight during the winter because it was very difficult to simply just stay alive in places like Wyoming and Montana in mid-winter, but the American army decided to fight through the winter, and use the advantage of their superior technology and equipment against the Indians.
By using the winter against the Indians, by the following spring the U.S. Army was able to round up nearly all of the remaining groups of the Sioux and Cheyenne who had fought the battle of the Little Bighorn, and bring them in to the reservation. The only exception was Sitting Bull and a few groups who crossed the border into Canada and surrendered later.
Ghost Dance Cult
There were scattered conflicts with other groups of the Indians later in the 1870s and 1880s, but never again was there a really significant military victory won against the Americans.
In the late 1880s, and 1888–1890, the Ghost Dance cult grew up. This was among a group of Paiutes and Sioux, and other groups who believed that if they wore the ghost-dance shirt and did a certain dance—the ghost dance—they’d become immune to soldiers’ bullets.
In fact, what happened is that nervous soldiers shot into their assembly at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in December 1890, killing about 200 of them, and from then right up to the present, Wounded Knee, South Dakota, has become a venerated site, the site of this great atrocity, and became important again in the Indian affairs of the 1970s.
The Dawes Severalty Act
At the beginning, Indian reservations were intended to be temporary. Congress passed a law in 1887 called ‘The Dawes Severalty Act’, and it was designed to hasten the Indians’ transformation into small-scale American farmers; that is, to make the Indians something like homestead settlers, that each one would have his own little family farm and would become integrated into the general American economy.
But usually, the reservations were on the worst land, unfarmable in many cases, because it was too dry. The Plains Indians themselves had no tradition of farming, and they were very easy prey to speculators—sometimes fraudulent speculators—trying to cheat them out of their land.
Finally, in the 20th century, further legislation was passed to prevent the disappearance of the Indian nations altogether, and to enable them to continue to live a reservation life if they wanted to.
Common Questions about the Transformation and Integration of Indians in American Economy
General George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills in 1874, he reported that many of the Creeks were gold-bearing, and that had the effect of setting off a new gold rush.
In the late 1880s, and 1888–1890, the Ghost Dance cult grew up. This was among a group of Paiutes and Sioux, and other groups who believed that if they wore the ghost-dance shirt and did a certain dance—the ghost dance—they’d become immune to soldiers’ bullets.
Congress passed a law in 1887 called ‘The Dawes Severalty Act’. It was designed to hasten the Indians’ transformation into small-scale American farmers; that is, to make the Indians something like homestead settlers, that each one would have his own little family farm and would become integrated into the general American economy.
