The Black Hills: Gold, Treaty Violation, and the Sioux Wars

1874: Gold Rush in the Black Hills

The land is the Black Hills of South Dakota.

In 1874, Lt. Col. George Custer's expedition confirmed gold there. The Hills were part of the Great Sioux Reservation guaranteed by the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. The US government, instead of honoring the treaty, attempted to buy the land; when the Sioux refused, the US seized it, triggering the Great Sioux War (1876–77), including the Battle of Little Bighorn. The Sioux were eventually forced onto smaller reservations, and the Black Hills were opened to mining and settlement.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1980 (United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians) that the taking was unconstitutional and awarded compensation (now over $1B), which the Sioux have refused, demanding return of the land.