In
1874 Custer led 1,000 troops, surveyors and (tellingly) mining engineers
into the Black Hills (The Sacred Paha Sapa of the Sioux, although also
sacred to the Cheyenne and Arapaho). Under the treaty of 1868 the Black
Hills were ceded to the Indians and no white should have been within the
lands at all. However by 1874 a small trickle of prospectors had found
their way into the Black Hills looking for Gold and the Government
decided they would survey the land for themselves. Not only did they
violate the Laramie Treaty by this action they did not even bother to
ask the Indian’s permission. They did not even tell them they were
coming. The number of Indians at the Black Hills at any one time was
usually quite low as they spent most of their time out on the Plains.
Therefore those Indians who were there could only watch helplessly as
the column advanced.
Custer
sent messages and newspaper reports about the area and in one he
mentioned that there was gold to be had, some of it laying around at the
grass roots. This immediately resulted in a rush of prospectors into the
Black Hills. The Government was initially horrified at this and deployed
troops to keep them out. However there were too many prospectors and not
enough troops. If the army stopped a man going in at one place he would
simply move up and go in at another. Even General Crook himself
patrolled the Hills telling people to leave but the orders were never
forcibly carried out. Although the army managed to stop some people
getting into the hills it was nowhere near enough and the army
eventually gave up trying. The government realised it would have to buy
the Black Hills or bargain with the Indians and pay them for mining
rights.
Under
the treaty of 1868 any amendment to said treaty had to be agreed by 75%
of the male population of the Lakota. As two thirds of Lakota males were
still living off reservation (and therefore classed as hostile) this was
a strange idea to have.
Commissioners
were sent to the agencies of Red Cloud and Spotted Tail but these chiefs
would not even consider the sale of their sacred grounds. Messengers
were sent out to the free tribes on the plains including to Sitting Bull
and Crazy Horse inviting them to a meeting to discuss the sale. Sitting
Bull would not even entertain such an idea. He picked up a pinch of sand
in his fingers and let it trickle down, blowing in the wind. “Tell
them,” he said, “that I will not even think of selling this much of
the Black Hills.” Crazy Horse was stunned by the idea. “You do not
sell the land on which the people walk.” He said. He did however, send
Little Big Man to the talks as his advocate. As expected the meeting was
a stormy one. Little Big Man dressed in all
his
finery and painted for war rode to the front of the assembled Indians
and promised to shoot the first one who spoke of his agreement for the
sale. However, his threats were not needed as nobody there agreed with
the sale at all.
Eventually
the meeting broke up, as they were getting nowhere; the Indians would
neither sell or agree to mining rights.
Little Big Man
The
American government were offering four hundred thousand dollars a year
for the mining rights or an outright payment of six million dollars,
payable in fifteen annual instalments. This was a cheap offer when you
consider that one mine alone yielded more than five hundred
million dollars in gold.
The
commissioners returned to Washington and reported their failure to
persuade the Lakota to relinquish the Black Hills. They recommended that
Congress disregard the wishes of the Indians and appropriate a sum fixed
“as a fair equivalent of the value of the Black Hills”. This forced
purchase of the hills should be “presented to the Indians as a
finality” they said. Thus was set in motion a chain of actions that
would lead to Custer’s defeat at the Little Bighorn.
9th
November 1875 - E.T. Watkins, special inspector for the Indian Bureau,
reported to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that Plains Indians
living outside the reservations were well fed and well armed, with a
lofty and independent attitude. He therefore saw them as a threat to the
reservation system.
Inspector
Watkins recommended that troops be sent against these ‘uncivilised’
Indians, “In the winter, the sooner the better and whip them into
subjection.”
22nd
November 1875 - Secretary of War. W.W. Belknap warned of trouble in the
Black Hills “unless something is done to obtain possession of that
section for the white miners who have been strongly attracted there by
reports of the precious metal.”
3rd
December 1875 - Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Edward P. Smith, ordered
all Sioux and Cheyenne agents to notify all Indians off reservations to
come in and report to their agencies by January 31st 1876 or “a military force would be sent to compel them.”
1st
February 1876 - The Secretary of the Interior notified the Secretary of
War that the time given to “the hostile Indians” to come to their
reservations had expired, and that he was turning them over to the
military authorities for such action as the army might deem proper under
the circumstances.
7th
February 1876 - The War Department authorised General Sheridan,
commanding the Military Division of the Missouri, to commence operations
against the “hostile Sioux”, including the bands under Sitting Bull
and Crazy Horse.
8th
February 1876 - General Sheridan ordered Generals Crook and Terry to
begin preparations for military operations in the direction of the
headwaters of the Powder, Tongue and Bighorn rivers, “where Crazy
Horse and his allies frequented.”
General Sheridan
One
thing the government had overlooked, either through stupidity or by
choosing to overlook it, was the fact that Indians never went far in the
winter unless it was imperative. Blizzards and extreme bad weather that
winter made it almost impossible to move anywhere, even for those who
may have wanted to go into the reservations. As it was conditions were
so bad that some of the messengers didn’t reach the free
Indians
until after the date set for their arrival at the agencies. There was
also a severe shortage of food at the agencies and the Indians there
were near to starvation. Had the free Indians reached the agencies they
would simply have starved. As it was a large number of Indians left the
reservation to go hunting in the north in an attempt to supplement their
meagre government rations.
In
January a courier found Sitting Bull camped near the mouth of the Powder
River. The Hunkpapa chief sent the messenger back to the agent saying he
would consider the order to come in, but could not do so until the
spring when the ponies would again have enough grass to make them strong
enough. Crazy Horse’s Oglalas were in winter camp near Beat Butte,
where the Thieves Road came into the Black Hills from the North. During
the spring it would be a good place to make up raiding parties against
the miners violating the hills. When the couriers reached Crazy Horse he
told them he could not come in until the cold went away.
The
January 31st ultimatum was nothing short of a declaration of
war against the free Indians and many of them accepted it as such. They
did not however expect a winter campaign against them.
Ironically
it was this campaign that increased the numbers of warriors at Little
Bighorn in June.
 Two
Moon’s Cheyenne heard of the ultimatum and decided they would go into
the agency. On the way they stopped at Crazy Horse’s village. He Dog,
a friend and Lieutenant of Crazy Horse decided that for the sake of his
women and children he should travel with Two Moons into the agency.
Crazy Horse was saddened by his decision but understood it. The two
groups left and after travelling for a couple of days they met up with a
party of Lakota from the reservation out hunting for food and they
camped for the night with them, leaving their ponies mostly outside the
village.
Two
Moons
He Dog
Meanwhile General Crook was mounting a winter campaign into the Powder
River country. His scouts found the temporary village. One of the scouts
was Frank Grouard who had been adopted by the Lakota when found as a boy.
He was called The Grabber by them, as he always wanted more of everything.
He had recognised He Dog’s ponies and on the strength of that declared
that the village was that of Crazy Horse. Crook’s second in command,
Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds led a dawn attack on the village with orders to
wipe it out and kill as many people in it as possible. The Indians
considered themselves at peace and were on the way to the agency so they
were all asleep when the attack began with Captain James Egan’s troop
storming into the village through the snow firing their guns into the
tipis. At the same time a second troop of cavalry came in on the left hand
flank and a third swept away the pony herd. The first reaction of the
warriors was to get the women and children to safety. As soon as the non
combatants were either across the river or started up a rugged slope to
the right of the village the warriors took up positions behind rocks or on
ledges and kept the soldiers at bay to give the women and children more
time to get away. The cavalry charge should have been supported by rifle
fire from soldiers among the rocks to the right but no order to fire was
ever given. In fact the soldiers parted to allow the women and children to
make their getaway. The warriors continued to fire into the village as the
cavalry looted and burnt everything within the village, including the
tipis themselves. The village was left a charred ruin and the soldiers
retreated. That night the Indians followed them and managed to steal back
a considerable portion of the pony herd. However they had only the clothes
they were wearing and no food or other supplies. In the freezing
conditions they made their way to Crazy Horses village where they were
warmed and given food and shelter.
General Crook was furious
with Reynolds for allowing so many of the Indians to escape from the
village and then to recover their pony herd. He had him court-martialled
for incompetence.
Frank Grouard
Crazy Horse listened to Two Moon’s story and said, “I am glad you have
come. We are going to fight the white man again.”
Two Moons replied, “I am ready to fight. I have been fought
already. My people have been killed, my horses stolen. I am satisfied to
fight.”
Therefore a large number of
Lakota and Cheyenne who were on the way into the agency, plus a number of
agency Indians became “hostile” again.
 Every year, whenever possible the Lakota held
their tribal Sun Dance, where the seven tribes of the Lakota gathered
together to renew the tribal spirit, praise Wakan Tanka, pledge themselves
in the Sun Dance ritual and meet up with friends and relatives again. The
favourite place for this annual gathering was Bear Buttes in the Black
Hills. In 1876 the encroachment of the miners had made it hard to gather
the tribes together there and instead they converged westward towards the
Powder River country and the Bighorn Mountains. Their numbers were greatly
increased this year as they had with them some Santee from the east who
had moved onto the plains to live with their Teton cousins, after they had
had troubles themselves with the whites. There was also a large number of
Cheyenne and some Arapaho. Their ranks were further increased due to bad
conditions on the agencies where people were suffering from lack of food.
People left the agencies to hunt for food in the north. Others left
because they were annoyed at the stealing of the Black Hills and wished to
join up with their hostile brethren.
Some of the older chiefs
such as Red Cloud and Spotted Tail stayed on the reservation with many of
their people but Jack Red Cloud (Red Cloud’s son) left and made his way
westward to join up with the hostiles. He took along his father’s rifle
and war bonnet although he was not entitled to wear the war bonnet. He did
wear it at the battle of the Rosebud –see the description of that battle
for details).
The gathering started at
the mouth of the Tongue River where Sitting Bull and his Hunkpapas were
already camped. They were joined by Crazy Horse and the Oglalas and the
Cheyenne of Two Moons. Lame Deer then arrived with his village of
Minniconjou. As the weather warmed they moved northwards in search of good
grass and game. Along the way they were joined by bands of Brule, Sans
Arcs, Blackfoot Lakota and more Cheyennes. While these several thousand
Indians were camped on the Rosebud they were joined by others from the
reservation. They brought with them rumours of great forces of soldiers
coming from three directions; Crook from the south, Gibbon from the west
and Terry and Custer from the east.
 During the Sun Dance of 1876 Sitting Bull offered
up 100 pieces of his flesh to the Great Spirit in Sacrifice. These were
taken from his arms and legs as he stood and stared into the sun. At last
the small pieces of flesh had been removed and, with blood pouring from
the wounds, Sitting Bull collapsed into a trance. Upon regaining
consciousness he told his people that he had heard a voice saying, “I
give you these because they have no ears.” When he looked he saw
soldiers falling into the village like
grasshoppers but they were falling upside down with their hats falling
off. Because the whites would not listen Wakan Tanka had given these
soldiers to the Indians to be killed. This was considered a great omen and
a sure sign of victory. This added confidence to the anger that the
Indians already felt against the white man.
Sitting Bull
 Late in May General Crook set out again against
the hostiles, part of a three pronged attack. He had with him twelve
hundred men as well as packers and teamsters. The column stretched for
four miles. Later he was joined by seventy six Absaroka (Crows) and eighty
six Shoshone. These were placed under the command of Frank Grouard. The
column moved north along the Bozeman trail where they were observed by
Lakota scouts who made their presence known but did not attempt to attack
the column.
As Crook reached the
Tongue River and camped he was approached by a lone rider with a message
from Crazy Horse. The message said that the soldiers should not cross the
Tongue. If they did the Lakota and Cheyenne would make war on them.
Crook’s answer was four words, “I’m crossing the Tongue.” The half
breed messenger took Crooks reply back to Crazy Horse. At dusk that day
Indian snipers appeared on the bluffs across the river and bullets
shrieked over the heads of the soldiers and teamsters. Crook sent three
companies of infantry to the riverbank to engage the snipers and a cavalry
detachment to cross the stream. As swiftly as it had begun the Indian fire
stopped and the snipers melted into the gathering darkness. They had made
their point. They had shown General Crook that they were ready to fight.
Crook remained camped on
the Tongue for four days, crossing on June 16th. During this
time he had been drilling his troops and briefing his officers. He also
had two hundred of the pack train mules broke to saddle and two hundred
infantrymen trained to ride mules. He left his wagons behind under the
protection of the infantrymen who had not been trained to ride. This was
to enable him to move quicker. He reached the Rosebud River on the evening
of the 16th June and camped close by.
General George Crook
Early in the morning of the 17th the soldiers were in the
saddle again. They rode into the valley of the Rosebud until they reached
the lower end of the valley close to a deep gorge known as Dead Canyon.
The Shoshone and Crow scouts who were riding ahead of the column were
suddenly attacked by a large group of Lakota and Cheyenne. The scouts
engaged the attackers giving Crook time to organise his soldiers for
battle. If he had not had the scouts to bear the brunt of the first charge
it is highly likely he would have ended up as Custer, so unprepared was he
for any real resistance.
This battle is considered
to be the first one where the Indian fought like the white man. They
certainly used it to their advantage. It was obvious from the start that
the Indians were being organised in the fight and not just left to their
own devices as usual. Crazy Horse had in fact organised the warriors into
a well disciplined fighting force and the other chiefs were leading their
man as directed.
A company of cavalry
under Captain Anson Mills was sent in a charge across the valley towards a
bluff where a large group of Indians was gathering. A few minutes later a
larger detachment under Major William B. Royall followed in support. As
they rode up the steep bluff the Sioux and Cheyenne fired into them at
point blank range. Troopers plunged back down the hill as they or their
horses were hit. The majority of troopers however managed to get to the
top of the bluff and fired at the Indians with their Colt revolvers,
forcing the Indians backwards. They retreated to higher ground where
they were joined by more warriors, in fact more and more Indians appeared
until progress for the cavalry was impossible. A messenger was sent back
to Crook asking for reinforcements. These were sent in the form of another
company of cavalry under Captain Henry Noyes, whose men immediately joined
the battle with their carbines. The situation still remained serious
though and all three officers and their men were being hard pushed to hold
their own. The entire command was in action; even the mule packers were in
the fighting. Crazy Horse was sending his warriors in for short fights and
then withdrawing them to be replaced by a new wave, allowing his men to
rest up; a good tactic.
The fighting went on for
two hours and then reinforcements arrived for Crazy Horse. American Horse
brought more Sioux and Little Hawk brought more Cheyenne. The Indians were
determined to beat back the cavalry who were invading their land. They
also wanted to protect their women and children in camp not far away. Many
Indians were carrying repeating rifles bought from white traders and this
evened the fight up.
Major Royall had advanced
too far and was now in an exposed position. On his left but not in contact
with him was Captain Guy Henry with a mixed group of cavalrymen and
scouts. Crazy Horse sent a wave of warriors against these two detachments
and then sent a second wave to hit them on the flanks. The second wave did
not have rifles but attacked with lances, tomahawks, knives and war clubs.
The soldiers and scouts held their ground but the battle was a furious one
and the scene was one of utter chaos and confusion. It lasted for only a
few minutes then the troopers and scouts were pushed slowly down the
slope.
One detachment of
troopers led by Captain Vroom was cut off on the heights. These men were
quickly surrounded but managed to fight off the first attack by the
Indians. Captain Henry and some of his men made a desperate charge and
managed to reach Vroom. The two groups then began a fighting retreat. The
Indians pressed them hard through a great cloud of dust and powder smoke,
thrusting with their lances and clubbing down victims with their clubs and
tomahawks. Captain Henry took a bullet in the face that mangled his
features horribly. He remained in the saddle for a moment or two still
firing his revolver before toppling to the ground. Eager for another kill
a number of Lakota warriors closed in on the fallen officer but a group of
scouts rushed forward in support led by Chief Washakie of the Shoshone and
Alligator Stands Up of the Crow. The ancient enemies clashed violently in
hand to hand combat until the scouts broke through and formed a circle
around the fallen officer. This battle within a battle gave Royall and
Vroom a chance to rally their men, for the pressure on them had eased
momentarily. They advanced up the slope once again. The Indians grudgingly
gave ground before the determined assault and Royall and Vroom pressed on
until the made contact with the furiously fighting scouts. After a few
moments however they were hit by a new wave of Indians and once more they
were forced to retreat. This time the scouts went with them taking the
unconscious Captain Henry.
In the midst of the
battle a Cheyenne chief named Comes In Sight had his horse shot from under
him and he fell to the ground. As troopers closed in on him a single rider
broke from the Indian lines and dashed towards the fallen warrior, pulling
him up onto the horse in the middle of frantic gunfire from the soldiers.
The man’s saviour turned out to be his sister, Buffalo Calf Road Woman
who zigzagged through the gunfire singing war songs. She was later to
become a female warrior, a rarity among the Lakota and Cheyenne. The
Cheyenne always knew this battle as The fight where the woman saved her
brother.
Jack Red Cloud, the great warrior’s son was also unhorsed and was
surrounded by Crow scouts who stole his father’s rifle and ripped off
his warbonnet saying he was not entitled to wear such a thing. As they
taunted hi Crazy Horse and two others rode out to rescue the boy who was
begging for mercy. They saved him but could not look into the face of one
who acted this way. They were ashamed that they had seen one of their own
crying to their enemies for pity.
The battle raged on,
increasing in ferocity. The Indians were taking it in turns to withdraw
and rest and get the smoke and dust from their lungs before returning to
the fight allowing another group to withdraw.
Crook had a horse shot
from under him at one stage and had to mount a spare horse to continue in
the battle. Seeing that Captain Mills had managed to beat back the Indians
from his position Crook and his aides rode to that comparatively quiet
spot. He ordered Mills to take his men down the gorge, locate Crazy
Horse’s village and take and hold it. Mills led his troopers two by two
into the steep walled gorge in search of the village. They were several
miles into Dead Canyon when they saw a few tipis ahead that were almost
certainly part of a big village. As they saw these tipis they were reached
by a messenger from the general who had changed his mind and now ordered
them back. The situation in the valley was worsening and every man was
needed. Mills protested that in five minutes he could take the village but
he was ordered to return. What he didn’t know was that an ambush was set
ahead. If he had pushed on towards the village he would have been caught
in a furious crossfire that would probably have come to wiping out the
column, if not succeeding completely. Did Crook really think the village
would have been left undefended? Surely not?
As it was they returned
to the valley in time to join the last of the heavy fighting. After half
an hour both sides willingly broke off the engagement. The Indians managed
to take all but thirteen of their dead with them as they withdrew from
rifle range.
Crook camped that night
on the battlefield with triple guards posted. First thing in the morning
he began a forced march back to his supply base on the Tongue, the onwards
south to home. He would report the battle as a decisive victory but in
reality it was a victory for the Alliance. They had managed to fight an
invading army to a standstill and then forced them into retreat. They were
buoyed by the victory and Crazy Horse promised them,
“So shall it be.
Wherever the white men come after us, we will defeat them.”
Many Indians rejoiced because
Sitting Bull’s vision had come true but he told them that the battle of
that day was not the battle of his vision. He told them to remain alert
and ready. In the meantime they would move their village as the grazing
was all gone where they were now. They would move their village into the
Valley of the Little Bighorn.
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