Treaty signing by William T. Sherman and the Sioux at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Photo by Alexander Gardner, 1868.

The Treaty of Fort Laramie was an agreement between the United States and the Lakota nation, Yanktonai Sioux, Santee Sioux, and Arapaho 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 Powder River Country was to be henceforth closed to all whites. The treaty ended Red Cloud's War. Image File history File links Fort_Laramie_Treaty_(1868). ... Image File history File links Fort_Laramie_Treaty_(1868). ... Alexander Gardner. ... Eddie Plenty Holes, a Sioux Indian photographed about 1899. ... The Sioux (pronounced ) are a Native American and First Nations people. ... Scabby Bull, Arapaho 1806 Arapaho camp, ca. ... Year 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Grounds of Fort Laramie Fort Laramie, located in present-day Goshen County, Wyoming in the United States, was a significant 19th century trading post and later a military outpost of the United States Army. ... Wyoming Territory was an organized territory of the United States that was existed from 1868 until its admission to the Union as the State of Wyoming in 1890. ... This article is about the place in South Dakota. ... Official language(s) English Capital Pierre Largest city Sioux Falls Area  Ranked 17th  - Total 77,116[1] sq mi (199,905 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 380 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... Official language(s) English Capital Cheyenne Largest city Cheyenne Area  Ranked 10th  - Total 97,818 sq mi (253,348 km²)  - Width 280 miles (450 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 0. ... Official language(s) English Capital Helena Largest city Billings Area  Ranked 4th  - Total 147,165 sq mi (381,156 km²)  - Width 255 miles (410 km)  - Length 630 miles (1,015 km)  - % water 1  - Latitude 44° 21′ N to 49° N  - Longitude 104° 2′ W to 116° 3′ W Population  Ranked... The Powder River Country is depicted in red on a map of the western United States The Powder River Country refers to an area of the Great Plains in northeastern Wyoming in the United States. ... The Powder River Country, northeast of the Bighorn Mountains and south of the Yellowstone River, is shown in red in the western United States Red Clouds war (also referred to as the Bozeman War) was an armed conflict between the Sioux and the United States in the Wyoming Territory...

The treaty included articles intended to "ensure the civilization" of the Lakota; financial incentives for them to farm land and become competitive - and stipulations that minors should be provided with an "English education" at a "mission building". To this end the US government included in the treaty that white teachers, blacksmiths, a farmer, a miller, a carpenter, an engineer and a government agent should take up residence within the reservation.

Repeated violations of the otherwise exclusive rights to the land by gold prospectors led to the Black Hills War. The U.S. government seized the Black Hills land in 1877 in violation of the treaty. Gold pan Gold prospecting is the act of going equipped to find gold in rocks or in stream beds with a view to exploiting that discovery. ... 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. ...

More than a century later, the Sioux nation won a victory in court. On June 30, 1980, in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, 448 U.S. 371, the United States Supreme Court upheld an award of $17.5 million for the market value of the land in 1877, along with 103 years worth of interest at 5 percent, for an additional $105 million. Holding Court membership Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger Associate Justices: William J. Brennan, Potter Stewart, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. ...

References

• "Treaty with the Sioux — Brulé, Oglala, Miniconjou, Yanktonai, Hunkpapa, Blackfeet, Cuthead, Two Kettle, Sans Arcs, and Santee — and Arapaho, 1868" (Treaty of Fort Laramie, 1868). 15 Stats. 635, Apr. 29, 1868. Ratified Feb. 16, 1868; proclaimed Feb. 24, 1868. In Charles J. Kappler, compiler and editor, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties — Vol. II: Treaties. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1904, pp. 998-1007. Through Oklahoma State University Library, Electronic Publishing Center.

External links

• Map of treaty land