"Political Leaders in the Clush of Cultures" Little BigHorn Battlefield National Monument ~ Garryowan, Montana
The Black Hills region of the Dakota was recognized as inviolable Indian land by the federal government. But the onset of a gold rush there in 1874-75 led the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant to decide that it would be easier to contrive a war against the Indians & seize the land than it would be to oust the white intruders. The campaign of 1876 was commanded by George A. Custer & his 7th Cavalry arrived at the huge Sioux encampment in eastern Montana, & there he hoped to achieve fame & advancement by defeating the Indians.
Late in 1875 an order went out from President Ulysses S. Grant in Washington to the various hostile Indian tribes that they were to report to reservations & Indian agencies no lather than 31 January 1876. The Cheyenne & Sioux tribes disregarded the order & as a result the Yellowstone Expedition set out on 17 May 1876 from Fort Abraham in the Dakota Territory under the command of Brigadier General Alfred H. Terry. The purpose of the expeditionary force was to find Chief Sitting Bull's encampment & to bring him to heel. Normally Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer would have led the entire expedition himself but he had incurred the displeasure of President Grant & was only allowed to accompany the expedition at the insistence of General Terry.
"Political Leaders in the Clush of Cultures" Little BigHorn Battlefield National Monument ~ Garryowan, Montana
The Black Hills region of the Dakota was recognized as inviolable Indian land by the federal government. But the onset of a gold rush there in 1874-75 led the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant to decide that it would be easier to contrive a war against the Indians & seize the land than it would be to oust the white intruders. The campaign of 1876 was commanded by George A. Custer & his 7th Cavalry arrived at the huge Sioux encampment in eastern Montana, & there he hoped to achieve fame & advancement by defeating the Indians.
Late in 1875 an order went out from President Ulysses S. Grant in Washington to the various hostile Indian tribes that they were to report to reservations & Indian agencies no lather than 31 January 1876. The Cheyenne & Sioux tribes disregarded the order & as a result the Yellowstone Expedition set out on 17 May 1876 from Fort Abraham in the Dakota Territory under the command of Brigadier General Alfred H. Terry. The purpose of the expeditionary force was to find Chief Sitting Bull's encampment & to bring him to heel. Normally Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer would have led the entire expedition himself but he had incurred the displeasure of President Grant & was only allowed to accompany the expedition at the insistence of General Terry.