1876: the Battle of Bighorn

[HIST101 - American History to 1877]

[Instructor: Melinda M Zupon]

1876: the Battle of Bighorn

It was in 1874 when an army expedition, led by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer succeeded in finding gold in Black Hills, (now known as South Dakota). Those hills were recognized as a property of Sioux Nations—with the ownership dating back to an agreement signed between United States and the Sioux Nations around six years back. After discovering gold on the hills, United States tried its best to buy the area back and start utilizing the newly discovered gold, but the Sioux refused and rejected the offer, as they considered the area to be sacred by them and they were not ready to give that up.

Having failed to get the area back in an amicable manner, the United States launched a mission and dispatched confederate troops to force the Sioux onto reservations, there by initiating the Battle of Little Bighorn. The battle of Bighorn is one of the most extensively studied topics in the American history, because of the mass killings involved and also to study the mystery of Custer's generalship.

After the Sioux have been forced into the reservations, they finally back lashed in late 1875, when they could not take the American capture of their lands anymore. As they considered the Black Hills to be sacred by them, they decided to fight for it and gathered to start fighting for their rights and their piece of land back. Sitting Bull, the renowned warrior of that time, was set to assist others.

After watching the proceedings, that the American army started making efforts to force them back in their reservations, and to avoid the attack from their side. The effort started with dispatching of three columns, which were supposed to attack in coordination with each other. ...