The Soldiers and the Sioux

The Soldiers and the Sioux. . , Cultural Conflicts Set the Stage , During the late 1880s, miners, traders, and homesteaders rushed to the West, pushing Northern Plains tribes into ever smaller remnants of their homelands. Treaties between the U.S. government and the tribes were made and broken; tensions rose between Native Americans and newcomers. Tribes responded to the wave of Euro-American immigrants with increasingly militant attempts to defend their homes and cultures., For the Santee Sioux, tensions peaked in August of 1862 and their uprising in Minnesota Territory left 450-800 settlers and soldiers dead. Brig. Gen. Henry Sibley was sent with 1,400 soldiers to suppress the uprising. Many Santee were captured; some fled west to join other Sioux bands. Sibley and Brig. Gen. Alfred Sully pursued the Santee into Dakota Territory where Sibley fought several battles in July and August 1863. In September, Sully’s attack on a Sioux village at Whitestone Hill resulted in more Indian deaths than any other conflict on the Northern Plains., Throughout Custer Trail Auto interpretation, the name “Sioux” refers to several bands who fought together during the Great Sioux War, including Hunkpapa, Yanktonai, and Santee. They were joined at times by a few Northern Cheyenne and members of other tribes., Sully’s Campaign , Battle of the Badlands, 1864 , In June 1864, Brig. Gen. Sully led the first military expedition into the badlands, intent on further punishing the Sioux and establishing new military posts. Sully engaged the Sioux at Killdeer Mountain on July 28. Ten days later, the Sioux surprised the column coming through a narrow gorge, beginning the three-day running battle – the Battle of the Badlands – that ended at Square Butte with the Sioux in retreat., Northern Pacific Railroad Surveys, 1871-1873 , By the late 1860s, the railroad was intent on pushing west from Bismarck. The Sioux, having witnessed the decimation of bison herds brought by railroads farther south, were equally determined to stop them. The resulting tension made military protection of railroad survey parties a necessity., Three survey parties, escorted by large military detachments, crossed the Dakota badlands. The first Northern Pacific Railroad survey was accompanied by Major Joseph Whistler in 1871. It is thought they followed Davis Creek to its confluence with the Little Missouri River., Two subsequent expeditions were led by Colonel David Stanley. The 1872 party attempted to avoid the badlands by taking a more southerly route, but they returned via Whistler’s route. Convinced this route was the easiest, Stanley’s column of almost 2,000 men, 275 wagons, and a cattle herd retraced the trail along Davis Creek in 1873., These survey expeditions witnessed a few skirmishes with the Sioux, but no major confrontations., Terry and Custer’s Campaign, 1876 , Ignoring an 1868 treaty, the U.S. government attempted to get the Lakota Sioux to cede the Black Hills(South Dakota) to gold seekers who were pouring into the area. When the Sioux disregarded the government’s order to report to their Indian agencies or be considered “hostile” Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry, accompanied by Lt. Col. George A. Custer’s 7th Cavalry, headed west from Ft. Abraham Lincoln to enforce the edict., Entering the badlands on May 27, 1876, near Easy Hill, Terry’s command continued west into Montana toward the Battle of Little Bighorn where Custer and most of his men died., Brig. Gen. George Crook was also sent to Montana that summer in pursuit of the Lakota Sioux who refused to go to the reservation. From there, his unit traveled east through the North Dakota badlands, then to South Dakota where they engaged the Sioux in the Battle of Slim Buttes., Traveling With the Troops , The size of each of these expeditions was astounding – ranging from 600 to 2,200 men, with several hundred heavy freight wagons, artillery, and hundreds of horses and mules. They even had herds of cattle – supplemental food on the hoof in case their hunters weren’t able to provide enough meat. In narrow valleys the column might be strung out for three to four miles. It’s no wonder traces of their passing remain today.