The Black Hills War was a United States civil war between the Lakota Native American tribe and the United States government from 1876 until 1877. A civil war is a war in which the competing parties are segments of the same country or empire. ... The Lakota (friends or allies, sometimes also spelled Lakhota) are a Native American tribe, also known as the Sioux (see Names). ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... The government of the United States, established by the United States Constitution, is a federal republic of 50 states, a few territories and some protectorates. ... 1876 is a leap year starting on Saturday. ... 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

The Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) established the Great Sioux reservation, which included the Black Hills, claimed by the Lakota since their victory over the Cheyenne in 1776. Often considered "terra incognita," the presence of gold in the Black Hills was generally known, but not publicly announced until after the George Armstrong Custer Expedition of 1874. Following this, people suffering from the Panic of 1873 began a gold rush to the Black Hills, in violation of the Treaty and federal law. Further angering the Lakota and their allies was the consistant failure of the United States Army to keep intruders out. Eventually, Tatanka Iyotake (Sitting Bull), Tasunka witko (Crazy Horse) and their people waged war against the intruders and the United States. Many historians today believe that the US Grant Administration deliberately provoked the war, as a new gold rush and the opening of the Black Hills would aid recovery from the economic depression which had lasted three years. Following unseasonable and unreasonable demands for Lakota families and hunters to report to the various agencies in the middle of the winter of 1875-76, Grant approved orders for the Army to round up the bands by force, and in the Spring of 1876, a coordinated campaign involving three columns of troops operating in what is today a five-state region was launched. It resulted in the Battle of Rosebud (1876) where the Lakota, under Tasunka Witko, defeated one of the three Army columns moving to find and force the tribes home. Days later, Colonel George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry attacked a camp of the Lakota and their Cheyenne allies on the banks of Greasy Grass Creek Little Big Horn River, and the resulting Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876) saw the Sioux and Cheyenne, under the leadership of Tatanka Iyotake and Tasunka witko, defeat the 7th Cavalry killing 264 soldiers in one of the worst defeats of the Indian Wars for the United States Army. However, in later battles in the summer and fall of 1876, including the Dull Knife Fight and the Battle of Slim Buttes, Cavalry and Infantry forces defeated the Lakota war parties and forced the Lakota people to return to the agencies. The war was finally ended with another treaty, in which the Lakota ceded a 50-mile strip along the western border of their reservation, and some additional lands, giving the US title to the Black Hills and legalizing the previously-illegal gold hunters and camp followers in Custer City, Deadwood, and other boom towns in the Black Hills. The Treaty of Fort Laramie was an agreement between the United States and the Lakota nation, signed in 1868 at Fort Laramie in the Wyoming Territory, guaranteeing to the Lakota ownership of the Black Hills, and further land and hunting rights in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. ... The Great Sioux Reservation was established in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, and includes all of modern Western South Dakota (commonly known as West River South Dakota) and modern Boyd County, Nebraska. ... The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming. ... This article is about the year 1776. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was an American cavalry commander in the Civil War and the Indian Wars who is best remembered for his defeat and death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn against a coalition of Native American tribes, led by... 1874 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Panic of 1873 was touched off on September 18, 1873, when the Philadelphia banking firm Jay Cooke and Company closed its doors and declared bankruptcy. ... US Army Seal The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Sioux: Tatanka Iyotake or Tatanka Iyotanka orTa-Tanka I-Yotank, born Hunkesni, Slow), (c. ... Crazy Horse (Sioux: Tasunka witko, pronounced tashúnka uitko), (December 4, 1849 - September 5, 1877) was a respected member of the Oglala Sioux Native American tribe and is noted for his courage in battle. ... Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was a Union general in the American Civil War and the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877). ... Battle of Rosebud, also known the Battle at Rosebud Creek. ... George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was an American cavalry commander in the Civil War and the Indian Wars who is best remembered for his defeat and death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn against a coalition of Native American tribes, led by... The 7th United States Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry unit, whose lineage traces back to the mid-19th century. ... The Little Bighorn River The Little Bighorn River is a tributary of the Bighorn River in the United States in the states of Wyoming and Montana. ... The Battle of The Little Bighorn was an armed engagement between a Lakota-Northern Cheyenne combined force and the 7th cavalry of the United States Army. ... Alternative meaning: Lakota, Côte dIvoire is a département of Côte dIvoire. ... Cheyenne lodges with buffalo meat drying, 1870 The Cheyenne are a Native American nation of the Great Plains, closely allied with the Arapaho and loosely allied with the Lakota (Sioux). ... The Indian Wars were a series of conflicts between the United States and Native American peoples (Indians) of North America. ... US Army Seal The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Dull Knife Fight Conflict Black Hills War, Indian Wars Date November 25, 1876 Place Wyoming Result U.S. victory The Dull Knife Fight was given its name from Chief Dull Knife who led the Cheyenne warriors during the battle. ... Custer City is a town located in Custer County, Oklahoma. ... Deadwood is a weekly HBO television drama that premiered in March 2004. ...

External links

• South Dakota Historical Society timeline