Defeat and demise of the Native Americans of the Plains
The Native Americans of the Plains were ultimately defeated and contained by white settlers, who outnumbered them, had more technology, more money, and who destroyed their traditional way of life.
Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull refused to accept the peace of 1868
Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874
The Sioux refused to sell their land in the Black Hills
The government ordered the Sioux onto small reservations. When the Sioux refused, they were declared hostile
1876 campaign, battle preparation
General Philip Sheridan was sent to defeat the Sioux
In June 1876 US armies, led by the generals Alfred Terry and John Gibbon, met at the Yellowstone river
Gibbon was set to march up the Little Bighorn River, and Lt Colonel George Custer was ordered to march round the Wolf Mountains, as part of a two-pronged attack on the Sioux camp
To the Little Bighorn
The Sioux had been joined by the Cheyenne and Arapaho, making an army of more than 3,000 warriors, armed with Winchester repeating rifles
Custer marched his men through (not round) the Wolf Mountains, to arrive at the Sioux camp first
Custer divided his 600 men into three groups
Custer's last stand
Custer sent Captain Frederick Benteen scouting, and sent Major Marcus Reno to attack the Sioux village from the south
Custer headed north of the village with 215 men
The Sioux cut off both Reno and Custer. Benteen rescued Reno, but Custer and all of his troops lost their lives
The Sioux withdrew when Terry and Gibbon arrived
'Custer's Last Fight'. Painting by Cassilly Adams, 1895.