Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

The Battle of Little Big Horn, 1876

In 1876, armies of the Sioux Indian tribes defeated the American national army. The American defeat happened on the 25th June 1876, at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

General Custer's discovery of gold

The Black Hills had been granted to the Sioux Indian tribes (because they thought the region was sacred and that they had originated from there).
In 1874, the US Army General George Custer searched for gold in the Black Hills. Custer found gold.
The American government tried to buy the rights to the gold from the Indians and tried to relocate them to Oklahoma.
The Sioux and other local tribes (such as the Cheyenne) were offered $6 million to abandon the Black Hills.
They rejected these offers because the Black Hills were sacred to their bands.

The Battle of the Rosebud

The US government gave the Plains Indians tribes 2 months (or 60 days) to leave the Black Hills and stay in their designated reservations. This angered the Indians.
The first battle of what is known as the 'Great Sioux War' happened on the 17th of June 1876.
The American troops, led by General Crook, drew the battle and were held up by the Indian armies led by Sitting Bull.

The Battle of Little Big Horn, 1876

The second battle of the Great Sioux War was the Battle of Little Big Horn.
General George Custer, the man who had discovered gold in the Black Hills attacked a Sioux Indian camp on the Little Big Horn River.
270 American troops were killed including General Custer.
The Plains Indians mutilated the dead troops' bodies and left them to decompose, which angered and shocked the American military.

The consequences of Little Big Horn

Although the American army was defeated, in the context of other wars, only a few hundred people died in the Great Sioux War.
The treatment and mutilation of the dead American soldiers' bodies were unpopular in the US Army and broader society.
The Manypenny Commission of 1877 forcibly seized 900,000 acres in the Black Hills from the Sioux tribes without giving them any compensation.
On the 15th of August 1876, the US Army sent 2,500 reinforcements (extra troops) to deal with the conflict). Custer had only had 500-600 men.
The Sioux and Cheyenne bands were sent back to their reservations and Sitting Bull (the leader of the Little Big Horn camp), and Crazy Horse (a decoy at Little Big Horn) were put in prison.

The Ghost Dance and the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)

1890 was a particularly damaging year for the Indian community, leading to the destruction of their way of life.

The Ghost Dance, 1890

A spiritual leader called Wovoka tried to revive the spirits of the dead to help the Sioux tribe.
In the year 1890, the US government had halved the rations being given to the Lakota Sioux. Their reservations had been shrunk, the Black Hills had been seized by the US government and harvests had been bad.
Hundreds of Plains Indians did the Ghost Dance to try to summon the spirits to help them in this desperate situation.
The American Army wanted to stop the Ghost Dance but Sitting Bull refused. He was arrested on the 15th December 1890 but was shot dead resisting his arrest.

The Wounded Knee Massacre, 1890

2 weeks later, on the 29th of December 1890, a band of Indians, led by Big Foot began a Ghost Dance as the US Army was chasing them.
The American soldiers fired their muskets on the ghost dance. The Wounded Knee Massacre took place. Between 150 and 250 Indians died and 25 US soldiers were killed.
The Ghost Dance was just a dance, but it scared white settlers and American soldiers. This was the last major fight between the Plains Indians and the US Army.

1The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

1.1The Plains Indians: Beliefs & Way of Life

1.1.1The Plains Indians - Social Structure

1.1.2The Plains Indians - Way of Life

1.1.3End of Topic Test - Social & Tribal Structures

1.1.4Grade 9 - The Plains Indians

1.2Migration & Early Settlement

1.2.1The Oregon Trail & Gold Rush

1.2.2Manifest Destiny

1.2.3Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

1.2.4End of Topic Test - Migration and Early Settlement

1.2.5Grade 9 - The Early Settlement of the West

1.3Conflict & Tension

1.3.1Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

1.3.2Lawless Towns

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Conflict & Tension

2Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

2.1The Development of Settlement in the West

2.1.1Causes of the American Civil War

2.1.2The American Civil War

2.1.3Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

2.1.4Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

2.1.5Ranching, Cattle & Cowboys 1862-1876

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Development of the Plains

2.2Changes in the Way of Life of the Plains Indians

2.2.1Impact of Railroads & Settlers 1862-1876

2.2.2Impact of the Peace Policy & Reservations

2.2.3The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

2.2.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Way of Life

2.2.5Grade 9 - Development of the Plains

3Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

3.1Changes in Farming & Settlement

3.1.1Farming & the Cattle Industry 1876-1895

3.1.2The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

3.1.3End of Topic Test - Exodusters, Land Rush & Cattle

3.2Conflict & Tension

3.2.1Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the Range Wars

3.2.2Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

3.2.3Destroying the Indian Way of Life

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Conflict and Tension

3.2.5Grade 9 - Conflicts & Tension

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