By Henry Minning, Niko Henry, Jack Wilson, Mike Golkow

 In 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills of Dakota, Land given to the Lakota Tribes.  In late 1875, Sioux and Cheyenne Indians left their reservations because of the continuous intrusions of the white prospectors and settlers.  Indians gathered in Montana with the great warrior Sitting Bull to fight for their lands. The following spring, two victories over the U.S. Cavalry motivated them to fight on in the summer of 1876.

 On November 9, 1875, U.S. forces were sent to attack the Indians. Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and hundreds of other Indians were at the ready to fight.  Two Crow Indian scouts were sent ahead to survey the situation. They returned with a warning that a very large Indian camp was situated at the Little Bighorn River.  Custer chose to ignore this news. He marched on and continued the attack, expecting the Indians to flee.

 The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also called Custer's Last Stand, was an engagement between the combined forces of the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne tribes against the 7th Cavalry of the United States Army.  The U.S. was heavily out numbered by the Indians. Reno’s Unit charged forward, hoping to receive reinforcements from Custer, which had never came. They retreated to the woods, but were pursued by Cheyenne and Sioux Indians.

 Custer's plans were to strike the northern end of the camp, simultaneous with Reno’s attack from the south.  However, Custer underestimated the terrain he would have to cover before making his assault. He was unable to reach the battle in time and Reno’s unit was almost wiped out.  Another Unit, led by Benteen, was told to march out the sound of gunfire to assist Custer’s men. But the unit had never arrived.

 By the time he arrived, Reno had already been driven back by the Indians, who soon discovered Custer and his men coming towards the other end of the village.  The Cheyenne and Sioux Tribes had also pushed back Custer’ Men. They had then attacked. In less than an hour, Custer and his men were killed

 The Lakota and Cheyenne advanced on the remaining U.S. troops under Benteen and Reno, who had finally ventured toward the firing of the Custer troops. For the next 24 hours the Indians and soldiers fought until the U.S. lines were finally secured when additional troops under General Terry began to approach from the north.  As the troops were prepared, the Indians began a retreat to the south.

 Crazy Horse Surrenders at Fort Robinson. He was later killed to prevent further rebellions.  The U.S. Congress repeals the Fort Laramie Treaty and takes the black hills from the Indians and millions of additional land from the Lakota Tribes.

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