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Fort Laramie Treaty
The U.S. and the Lakota signed this treaty one year before Grant took office. Under the treaty, all of South Dakota west of the Mississippi (including the Black Hills) was a reservation for the Lakota. The treaty also reserved Unceded Indian Territory farther west, off-limits to whites without the Lakotas’ consent. The U.S. promised the Lakota a pound of meat and a pound of flour every day for four years. U.S. citizens were not to interfere with the land and respect the boundaries set. -
Grant takes Presidental Office
Grant promises peace in the West and promises to respect the Native Americans who live in the region. -
Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's expedition into the Black Hills
This thousand man expedition was passed by President Grant to scout a spot for a new military post in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Custer found gold in the Black Hills instead, setting off a new gold frenzy in the U.S. Many miners moved to the region following the expedition due to an economic depression that had been in place for a year prior. The pressure on Grant to cede South Dakota followed. -
Lakota Delegation Arrives at Washington
A Lakota delegation of chiefs came to Wasington to meet with President Grant to complain about lack of government rations and a corrupt Native American agent. Grant told th delegation that the rations had expired at that point and it was up to the government to decide whether they anted to continue them or not. Grant told the delegation that the Lakota needed to cede the Black Hills or lose their rations. -
Grant holds Grand Council on Great Sioux Reservation
Grant convened a Grand Council to mee with Lakota chiefs and buy mining rights to the Black Hills. However, the meeting failed as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull refused to attend. Subchiefs and warriors attended the meeting to threaten any chief who might have wanted to sell. -
Sheridan makes his way to Washington
By October, Grant was forming a new strategy and needed military expertise. Early in October, the War Department ordered Lt. Gen. Philip Sheridan, the ranking officer in the West, to come to Washington, bypassing his commander, William Sherman. On October 8, Sheridan left San Francisco and headed to Washington. -
New York pastors meet with Grant
The pastors tried to convince Grant not to engage in a war just to satisfy the public. They thought that a war against the Lakota would be a "blow to the cause of Christianity throughout the world." Grant assured the men that he would never abandon his peace policy. -
Grant's Convention
Just a few days after his meeting with the New York pastors, Grant convened a meeting of like-minded generals and civilian officials to formulate a war plan and write the necessary public script. The meeting itself was public knowledge, but nobody knew what really happened that day and what the outcome of the meeting was. -
Investigator Erwin C. Watkins' report
Going with Grant's plan to turn public opinion against the Lakota, Watkins was tasked wth writing a report for the Indian Bureau about the non-treaty Lakotas. In his report, he characterizes them as murderous, hostile Sioux Indians and cites how offensive it was that they refused to conform to white society. He calls for an army to come into the area and force the group into subjection. The report encapsulated Sheridan’s and Crook’s views. -
Sheridan's confidential order to Brig. Gen. Alfred Terry
These orders revealed Grant's plan to wage a secret war on the Lakota. First, the Army would give the ultimatum to all Lakota: Repair to the reservation or be whipped. Then, the Army would no longer enforce the edict stating the Lakota owned the Black Hills. Hostilities against the miners would be encouraged as this would place the blame. The non-treaty Lakota were to be given a very short time to evacuate to he reservation, and the Indian Bureau was to complain about any non-abiding Lakota. -
Sherman grows suspicious
When Sheridan hadn't filled out his annual report, Sherman grew suspicious of his activity. Sheridan's excuse was that he was obliged to go and see about the Black Hills. Instead of elaborating to Sherman on the war plan, he jut sent more confidential orders to Terry. Sherman was furious. -
Zachariah Chandler's orders
Former Michigan Senator Zachariah Chandler, member of Grant's secret council, informed the non-treaty Lakota on Decemeber 3 that they would have until January 31, 1876 to evacuate to the designated reservation or the army would march against them. The first phase of Grant's plan was in motion. The non-treaty Lakota had already settled in for the winter at this point, so the responded by saying that they would wait until spring to discuss the matter. -
Sheridan gives the orders to Terry and Crook to begin their campaign
As the Lakota had not obeyed Chandler's orders, Sherman gave Terry and Crook the green light to begin their winter campaigns. However, these campaigns turned out to be failures. Terry was snowbound and Crook mistakenly attacked a group of Cheyanne, who alerted the Lakota. The performances of Terry and Crook also did no more to convince the Lakota chiefs that they had any reason to move. That spring, thousands more Lakota migrated to the Unceded Territory. -
Battle of the Rosebud
Lakota and Cheyanne versus Crook's army, Crow and Shoshone in the Montana Territory. The battle was a major loss to Crook, who drew back afterwards to lick his wounds. -
Battle of Little Bighorn
Some of Terry's men-the 7th cavalry, under Custer- versus Lakota and Cheyanne. This was the largest American loss during the war, the ultimate price for Grant's perfidy. -
J. Donald Cameron's explanation
Congress only grew suspicious of activity in the west until the Battle of Little Bighorn. Prepared for a cover up, Secretary of War Cameron only took three days to submit a lengthy explanation, Watkins' report and 58 pages of correspondence. However, Sheridan's orders from November were absent. Cameron assured Congress that the army was only hostile towards the non-treaty Lakota and the discovery of gold was not an issue. He placed the blame on the violence of the Lakota. -
Lakota Defeated
By May of 1877, the Lakota were utterly defeated and Grant got what he wanted: their land. -
United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians Decision
In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that the Lakotas were entitled to damages for the taking of their land. The sum, uncollected and accruing interest, now exceeds $1 billion.
