Over 250,000 Native Americans lived on the Great Plains in the 19th Century. While white settlers focused on taming the frontier, the indigenous inhabitants sought to maintain their hold on land they had lived on for centuries. In the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, the United States recognized the Black Hills as the Great Sioux Reservation, promising to prosecute any “bad men” who committed wrongs against the Indians.
Rumors of gold in the Black Hills changed everything. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry rode out of Fort Abraham Lincoln on an expedition to see if the rumors were true. On July 2, 1874, Custer led his men into unexplored regions of western Dakota Territory. Custer wrote, “We have discovered a rich and beautiful country.”
On this date in 1874, Custer reported that gold was found. He made it sound as if gold could be scooped up from the ground with little effort. He neglected to mention that the land was legally owned by the Sioux. Reporters with the expedition spread the tale to the entire country. Headlines like “The New Gold Country” lured enterprising miners to the Black Hills. It was only a matter of time before the region was swarming with prospectors who were followed by settlers. Custer expressed second thoughts when he wrote, “We are goading the Indians to madness by invading their hallowed grounds.” But it was too late.
The Fort Laramie Treaty promise to protect the sacred land of the Sioux lasted less than ten years. The Sioux appealed to the government, but no help came. The government offered to buy the Black Hills for six million dollars, but Sioux leader Sitting Bull responded, “The Black Hills are not for sale.” President Grant decided he would not require the Army to halt the white encroachment.
In 1979, the Supreme Court ruled that the United States illegally seized the region. The Sioux refused a payment of $106 million, saying again that the Black Hills were not for sale. The money was set aside and continues to earn interest. In 2009, efforts by the Obama Administration to settle the issue were unsuccessful. The money now amounts to more than one billion dollars, but the Black Hills remain “not for sale.”
Dakota Datebook by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- American Experience. “Black Hills Expedition of 1874.” https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/custer-timeline/ Accessed 6/22/2024.
- National Archives. “Treaty of Fort Laramie, 1868.” https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/fort-laramie-treaty Accessed 6/22/2028.
- University of Minnesota. “1874 Black Hills Expedition.” https://kirkby.esci.umn.edu/history/1874-black-hills-expedition/1874-black-hills-expedition Accessed 6/22/2024.
- PBS News. “Why the Sioux Are Refusing $1.3 Billion.” https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/north_america-july-dec11-blackhills_08-23 Accessed 6/25/2024.
