little bighorn

• The Battle of the Little Bighorn was significant because the US Army was defeated by the Sioux nation. This defeat changed government policy.
• In 1874 many prospectors began searching for gold in the Black Hills, part of the Sioux hunting grounds in Dakota. This was a breach of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty.
• The government offered to buy the Black Hills, but the Sioux refused. The government then said that the Sioux had broken the treaty because they were attacking prospectors.
• Thousands of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors left their reservations to join leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. The government gave them 60 days to return, or else they could be attacked. By spring 1876 7,000 Sioux had set up camp, ready for a war with the whites.
• US Army commander George Custer found a camp of 2,000 warriors in the valley of the Little Bighorn. Although he should have waited for backup, he went ahead and attacked with only 200 cavalrymen.
• Led by Crazy Horse, the Sioux killed Custer and all of his men.
• Public opinion now turned against Plains Indians: it was felt that they should assimilate (become like white Americans) or die…
• in 1876