Timeline . Custer's Last Stand . American Experience . WGBH | PBS Other Timelines In the 19th century, over 250,000 Native Americans lived in the Great Plains -- between the Mississippi and Rocky Mountains. After the Civil War , however, the U.S. government began to focus on its territories in the West. Thousands of white settlers set out to conquer the region, while the native populations were attempting to remain on the land they had occupied for centuries. Skirmishes between the U.S. government and the Native American populations grew increasingly frequent and brutal. In the Dakota Territory in April of 1868, the Treaty of Fort Laramie granted the Sioux nation ownership of the Black Hills, which were considered sacred grounds for the Sioux (also known as the Lakota) and Cheyenne Indians. There the Native Americans would live on the newly-created Great Sioux Reservation. But not all of them went. Although many did move, they frequently traveled seasonally to pursue better hunting opportunities. In 1874, the U.S. government sent General George Custer on the Black Hills Expedition to choose a location for a new Army fort and to investigate the area's natural resources.

The expedition's confirmation of gold in the region drew thousands of whites to the Black Hills, ultimately fueling tensions between the whites and the Native Americans, leading to the Great Sioux war of 1876 and Custer's Last Stand . (For timelines on the Battle of Little Bighorn, see our Further Reading page.) June 8: 1874 Former Union Brigadier General George Custer receives written orders from General Alfred Terry to explore the Black Hills with his 7th Cavalry. Custer spends the next few weeks at Fort Lincoln, Dakota Territory -- southwest of Bismark -- preparing his expedition, which consists of 1,000 soldiers from his 7th Cavalry, 110 wagons, 70 Indian scouts, four reporters, and two gold miners. July 2 The expedition sets out to the southwest toward the Heart River. The Cavalry's band plays Custer's favorite -- regimental battle song "Garry Owen." Although Custer's wife Libbie had planned to come along, Custer tells her to stay at Fort Lincoln, citing the potential for Indian hostilities. July 16 Still heading south, the group crosses the border into Wyoming Territory.

July 18 After traveling 290 miles, the expedition reaches the Belle Fourche River, a tributary of the Cheyenne River. As they approach the Black Hills, Custer and his men describe their first sight of the dramatic hills and the rolling, luscious landscape. "We have discovered a rich and beautiful country," Custer writes to Libbie. July 22 Custer and the 7th Cavalry arrive in the Black Hills, three weeks and 330 miles from Fort Lincoln. They camp there two nights before beginning to explore the Black Hills. There are no signs of Native Americans, and the expedition begins to take on the air of a picnic. Custer goes on hunting expeditions with his closest men, and spends his spare time writing newspaper reports and magazine columns, which he submits under the penname "Nomad." National Archives Wagon train passing through Castle Creek Valley July 26 The expedition passes back into Dakota Territory. Expedition photographer William Illingworth takes a picture of the wagon train from above Castle Creek Valley. The image becomes one of the most iconic photographs of the expedition. July 27 Horatio N. Ross and William T.

McKay, two miners tagging along on the expedition, begin to pan for gold. They hope to verify rumors of gold that circulated after previous expeditions to the region in the 1850s. July 31 A group including Custer and Captain William Ludlow climb Harney Peak, the highest peak of the Black Hills. They do not return to camp until 1 a.m. the next morning. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument Wagon train approaching Hidden Wood Creek August 1 In a valley below Harney Peak (on which Mount Rushmore will be carved in the 1930s) in the southern part of the Black Hills, the group sets up camp and remains for five days, the longest they will remain in any one place during the course of the expedition. From camp, they take day trips to explore the area. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument Camp near Harney Peak August 2 The expedition discovers gold "right from the grass roots," as Custer reports to the New York Times. His account describes an abundance of gold in the Black Hills, but omits the fact that the Sioux legally hold the land.

Reporters embedded with the expedition will continue to file stories about the gold discovery, spreading headlines to dozens of newspapers across the country. August 7 Custer shoots and kills a grizzly bear, which he claims is his greatest hunting achievement. He documents his western hunting excursions in order to boost his own reputation as a western conqueror and a fearless military leader. August 10 The New York Tribune headlines the discovery of the “New Gold Country." August 13 The expedition has left the Black Hills and begins the return trip to Fort Lincoln, heading north. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument Custer with Indian scouts August 22 The New York Times publishes General Custer’s report in which he boasts about the wealth in the Black Hills. He describes gold "distributed throughout an extensive area within the Black Hills" as well as "rich pasturage" for livestock. August 23 Now in the Northern Dakota Territory, the expedition turns east towards Bismark. August 30 An August headline announces gold fever in the Black Hills Fall 1874 Lured by the promise of gold , miners across the country prepare for a journey to the Black Hills. An economic crisis in 1873 had left many U.S.

citizens looking to the western frontier for quick wealth and a fresh start. 1875 By the fall, over 15,000 hopeful miners will have settled in the Dakota Territory. Dozens sneak in to the Black Hills, violating the Treaty of Fort Laramie; many are evacuated by the Army or killed by Indians. The U.S. government offers to buy the Black Hills for $6 million, but Sioux leader Sitting Bull rejects the offer. On November 3, President Ulysses S. Grant convenes with his cabinet and decides the Army will do nothing more to stop white settlers from entering the Black Hills. In December the U.S. Commissioner on Indian Affairs orders all remaining Sioux living outside the reservation to move there by January 31, 1876. Despite the fact that this would be a near-impossible feat in the dead of winter, all who refuse will be considered hostile. 1876 The deadline passes and Great Sioux War begins between the U.S. and the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes. On June 25, 1876, Custer and the 7th Cavalry are overwhelmingly defeated at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

The following spring, in 1877, the Great Sioux War (also known as the Black Hills War) ended, with most Native Americans surrendering or fleeing to Canada. Black Hills Gold Rush to South Dakota. Famous Gold Mines Home > Black Hills Gold Rush Black Hills Gold Rush The Black Hills Gold Rush began in 1874, when General Custer led a party of men into the Black Hills Territory in search of gold. Rumor of previous discoveries had dated back to the earlier part of the century, but no real interest was generated for several decades. When Custer and his men arrived near present day Custer, South Dakota, small amounts of placer gold were found on French Creek, but in limited quantities. They explored throughout the Black Hills, discovering small amounts of gold in several locations along the way, but in fairly small quantities wherever they looked. That changed in November of 1875, when they prospected Whitewood and Deadwood Creeks in the northern Black Hills and found the gravels to be rich with placer gold. Word quickly spread throughout the country, and by the next spring there were thousands of men filing claims in the area.

Although the Black Hills of South Dakota had been given to the Sioux Indian with the Treaty of Laramie in 1968, the allure of gold could not keep the white man away. The lands were technically off limits to mining, but little could be done after the world got out about the new gold discoveries in the Black Hills. The next big gold rush was on, and soon prospectors were searching every creek and river in the area for placer gold. The historic mining towns of Deadwood sprang up overnight, and some of the best placer grounds were found at Deadwood Gulch. Many men got rich mining these rich placer gravels, and many men died fighting over their claims. Deadwood gained a reputation as one of the roughest and orneriest towns in the country. It didn�t take long for the early miners to exploit the richest placer gravels in the area. Most of the best placer ground was quickly claimed by the earliest arrivals to the Black Hills, and latecomers had the choice of either returning home or search for new undiscovered pockets of gold. Many of them went back to where they came from, but some of the more determined prospectors explored the hard rock deposits that were believed to have introduced the gold into the streams.

On April 9, 1876, Fred and Moses Manuel, Alex Engh, and Hank Harney discovered an outcrop of gold ore near present day Lead, South Dakota. What the men had discovered were the lode deposit that fed the rich placer deposits at Deadwood Creek. Their claim was called the Homestake Mine, which they sold to investors the following year for $70,000. The ore deposits were actually quite low grade, but the extent of the ore body was massive! Little did they realize that they were had actually discovered one of the most significant mineral resources in the world! Like many gold rushes throughout the world, most of the easiest worked ground was mined out within a few years. However, because of the rich lode deposits found in the Black Hills, lode mining continued for many years. Numerous mines operated on and off for the next century, mainly in present day Lawrence and Pennington Counties. The Homestake Mine was eventually developed into the largest and deepest gold mine in North America, and went on to produce over 40 million ounces of gold between 1878 and its closure in 2002.

This became the second most significant gold discovery in the U.S., behind the more recently discovered Carlin deposits of Nevada. Mining has slowed down significantly in the Black Hills since the early discoveries of the late 1800s. Most of the mines are now inactive, but small scale prospectors can still pan for gold in the many creeks throughout the Black Hills. Tourism has become a huge boon for the Black Hills of South Dakota in more recent years. The historic town of Deadwood still exists today with many structures dating back to the late 1800s, and the town itself is now registered as a national historic landmark. Nearby Mount Rushmore also attracts thousands of visitors each year. The heydays of gold mining South Dakota may be behind us, but the rich history of the Black Hills Gold Rush still lives on today. Also Read: What was discovered in 1870 in the Black Hills that brought many new settlers to the territory? | Socratic × What was discovered in 1870 in the Black Hills that brought many new settlers to the territory? Start with a one sentence answer Then teach the underlying concepts Don't copy without citing sources Write a one sentence answer...

Answer: I want someone to double check my answer Describe your changes (optional) 200 Cancel Feb 15, 2016 Answer: Actually in 1874 gold was discovered in the Black Hills and that caused a migration to the area. Explanation: In 1874 Lt. Colonal George Armstrong Custer was in charge of the Black Hills territory and was responsible for cavalry patrols to protect the Hills and to protect railroad surveyers as they were sacred ground to the Lakota Sioux tribes. Custer announced that gold had been discovered. Was this helpful? Let the contributor know! Yes George Custer Black Hills Expedition George Custer Black Hills Expedition Its Equal I Have Never Seen: Custer Explores the Black Hills in 1874 By Dr. Brian Dippie Webmaster's Note: ï¿½Its Equal I Have Never Seen: Custer Explores the Black Hills in 1874,ï¿½ by Dr. Brian W. Dippie, courtesy of COLUMBIA: THE MAGAZINE OF NORTHWEST HISTORY 19 (Summer 2005). COLUMBIA is a quarterly publication of the Washington State Historical Society. Dr.

Brian W. Dippie, professor of history, has taught at the University of Victoria, British Columbia since 1970 and has also served on the board of the Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield since 2001. Seventy years after Lewis and Clark began their epic journey up the Missouri River, Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer led the Seventh United States Cavalry from Fort Abraham Lincoln on the west bank of the Missouri River-"Headquarters of the Black Hills Expedition" under his command. The "General" sounded at 7:00 am, "Boots & Saddles" at 7:50, "To Horse" at 8:00, and "Advance" at 8:10, reported Custer's adjutant and brother-in-law, Lieutenant James Calhoun.

Private Theodore Ewert, a chronic grouser who left a vivid account of the expedition, conceded that its departure was stirring: The companies wheeled by fours into line of march, guidons flying in the breeze, the band playing our battle quickstep, "Garry Owen," the officers dashing up and down the column with an air of importance, the men cheerful and full of chatter, and as we cast our eyes for the last time on Fort A. Lincoln up the valley, we saw the ladies of our command (the wives of officers and men) waving their scarfs and handkerchiefs in sad farewell, and just as we left the last ridge that overlooked the valley the men gave three hearty cheers, whose echoes must have been heard by the anxious women watching us from the fort. It was July 2, 1874, and Custer was starting out just half a mile south of Lewis and Clark's October 20, 1804, campsite.

"The Countrey is fine," Clark had noted in his journal, "the high hills at a Distance with gradual assents." The area teemed with gameï¿½elk, goats, and deerï¿½and "great numbers of buffalow [were] swimming the river." The world, as for Custer in 1874, lay all before them. Lewis and Clark saw this site when they camped below the confluence of the Heart and Missouri rivers on August 18, 1806. They were on the last stretch of their epic "voyage of discovery," just over a month out of St. Louis where it had all begun two years, three months, and five days before. Custer's Black Hills expedition was nowhere near so ambitious in its objectives or the time it would take to realize them. The Seventh Cavalry was back at Fort Lincoln on the 30th of August. But in its own right the 1874 expedition was a logistical marvel, involving over a thousand men and one African-American womanï¿½Aunt Sally, as she was calledï¿½a cook.

General Orders of June 30 had established the "order of march." The Indian scouts would take the lead, followed by a battery of three Gatling guns and a cannon. Then came the ambulances and wagons, 110 in all, "the latter," according to orders, "when practicable to move in four columns." Next was an infantry battalion, marching in columns of two. Divided into two battalions, one company of the Seventh Cavalry would provide a rear guard while the other nine patrolled the expedition's flanks. Captain William Ludlow of the Corps of Engineers was assigned to Custer's staff, and a small posse of scientists including Newton Winchell, geologist, and George Bird Grinnell, paleontologist, accompanied the expedition. Science, after all, along with the military objective of finding a suitable site for a new post, had been used to justify the expedition to skeptics who claimed its sole purpose was to invade Sioux lands in search of gold. Two "practical miners" managed to find a place among the expedition's civilian contingent, so judge for yourself.

In a shrewd political move, Custer had recruited the president's son, Frederick Dent Grant, from General Philip Sheridan's staff to serve on his own, presumably as Sheridan's representative since no one could figure why else he was along, though he was a congenial companion whenever a bottle was being passed around. The band was along as well, of courseï¿½Custer could hardly do without its jaunty rendition of "Garry Owen" and such sentimental standards as "The Girl I Left Behind Me." If all worked out as planned there would be evenings in the Black Hills when music would enhance a few idle hours in paradise. Three hundred head of cattle were being herded on a one-way trail drive just in case paradise failed to yield enough wild game and trout for sustenance. The Press Corps Five correspondents represented papers in New York, Chicago, St. Paul, and Bismarck. They were to fill the pages of the nation's press with first-hand reports of successive discoveries and triumphs that the military planners hoped would exceed even the most overheated expectations. The journalists did not disappoint.

In advance, they told the public what the army wanted it to hear: the Black Hills were "unknown," "mysterious," and "unexplored." No white man had ever entered them. The only authentic map of the Black Hills was a blank sheet of paper. And so it went, building excitement and raising expectations. "The press has praised the Black Hill country to the skies," Calhoun wrote in his diary on June 23: "We are informed in glowing terms 'that it is believed to be, a land of ambrosial luxuryï¿½flowing with milk and honey.' In fact so much has been circulated regarding this section of country, that thousands are wild with curiosityï¿½longing to see it." Their wish would be granted. St. Paul photographer William H. Illingworth had been hired by Captain Ludlow to prepare a set of photographs showing what some reporters had already dubbed "fairy-land." Though only 31, Illingworth was an experienced expeditionary photographer, having accompanied the Fisk expedition from Minnesota to Montana in 1866 with gold again the lure.

His professional competence and gifted eye are responsible for the extraordinary visual record we have of the Black Hills expedition, his view of the expedition drawn up in marching order not least among them. It perfectly expresses the official position voiced by Lieutenant Calhoun: "Our little army has wrought wonders. Acting as one great pioneer corps, it has paved the way for civilization." Lt. Col George Armstrong Custer The expedition's commander was a figure familiar to fame. The "Boy General" held the regular army rank of captain in the Civil War but served as a Brevet Brigadier General when he was 23, and then as a Major General of Volunteers. At the age of 25 he earned the rank of Brevet Major General. In 1874 he still signed himself "Lieut. Colonel, 7th Cavalry" or "Brevet Major General, U.S.A.," and was correctly addressed as "General." In the Civil War, Custer had attracted attention for leading fearless cavalry charges, with his long cinnamon-colored hair streaming behind him and a red cravat topping off a self-designed uniform agleam with gold.

While he fell from those heights of glory after the war, he was not demoted but promoted to the regular army rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1866 and assigned to the newly-formed Seventh Cavalry Regiment. There would always be a colonel over him, but he took effective command of the Seventh in the field and, perhaps rightly, considered it his regiment. In a shrinking postwar army filled with veteran officers who had served at much higher rank, promotion was notoriously slow; Custer was still awaiting elevation to a full colonelcy when he fell on the Little Bighorn in 1876. The Black Hills expedition had been mounted in part at Custer's urging. He "has expressed a desire on many occasions to explore the Black Hills, believing that it would open a rich vein of wealth calculated to increase the commercial prosperity of this country," Calhoun observed. Since the end of the Civil War, Western interests had wanted the Hills opened to white settlement. Despite a treaty signed at Fort Laramie in 1868 granting the Sioux "absolute and undisturbed use and occupation" of the entire area, settler pressure continued to build.

In the end it was General Philip Sheridan, commander of the Division of the Missouri, who, in consultation with General Alfred Terry, commander of the Department of Dakota under him, approved a military reconnaissance of the Black Hills. Ignoring critics who said they were caving in to special interests that simply wanted access to the allegedly gold-rich region, Sheridan and Terry took the high ground, citing military necessity. "In order to better control the Indians making...raids toward the south," Sheridan explained, he "had contemplated for two or three years past, to establish a military post in the country known as the Black Hills." In turn, Terry, who had been party to the 1868 treaty negotiations, argued that duly authorized government officials had always been permitted entry upon the Sioux Reservation "in discharge of duties enjoined by law." "I am unable to see that any just offense is given to the Indians by the expedition to the Black Hills." Custer, speaking off the record, was more forthcoming. "It is supposed," Calhoun wrote in his diary, that "in the vicinity of the Black Hills there are vast treasures of immense wealth. That rich mines await the industry of the hard--working miner.

That precious metals invite discovery, and that in the bottoms of the many streams, and other parts of this domain, large deposits of gold are to be found." He had obviously mulled over the subject with his brother-in-law, noting: "General Custer, fully alive to the interests of the Northwest, wishes to see this country for himself." Custer's rather flimsy rationale for the Black Hills expedition corroborates William H. Goetzmann's observation that in America exploration and science had to serve two ends.... Results from far-flung expeditions into the wilderness frontier, in the view of the emerging cadre of professional scientists, had to make significant contributions to the world's body of knowledge.... On the other hand, expectant capitalists and the legislatures which supplied the funds for expeditions saw them purely as instruments for practical material progress. There was one thing more. Custer fancied himself as much pathfinder as Indian fighter. He had led the Seventh Cavalry into the field from Fort Riley, Kansas, in March 1867 on General Winfield Scott Hancock's 1,400-man expedition to cow the Southern Plains tribes.

It proved one vast frustration-the Indians were maddeningly elusive, the expedition's objectives muddled, and Custer ended up court-martialed and suspended from rank and pay for a year. He was reinstated to command before the year was out through the intervention of General Sheridan and repaid the general's confidence with a victory over the Cheyenne on the Washita River in November 1868. His standing as an Indian fighter soared in some circles, and sank in others, where his victory was denounced as a massacre of women and children. Controversy never hurt Custer's image as a fighting officer. But what stands out in his service on the Southern Plains through the spring of 1869 were his long marchesï¿½indeed, gallopsï¿½across vast swaths of country, and his carefully cultivated reputation as a peerless hunter and a man who liked to lead the way, riding with the scouts, not following them.

Reconstruction duty in Kentucky, even with ample opportunity to savor the pleasures of bluegrass horseflesh, grew wearisome, and Custer was elated when in February 1873 the Seventh was reassigned to the Department of Dakota for service against the Sioux. Within days of arriving at Fort Rice, 24 miles below Fort Lincoln, which was then under construction, he was back in the saddle leading his regiment on the Yellowstone expedition. Mounted to protect the Northern Pacific Railroad's surveyors in the contested territory between end-of-track at Bismarck, across the river from Fort Lincoln, and a point due west on the Yellowstone River, the expedition was under the command of Colonel, Brevet Major General, David S. Stanley. When it struck the Yellowstone, the expedition proceeded along the river to Pompey's Pillar, the take-off point for an unsurveyed stretch on the proposed Northern Pacific line. Without independent command in 1873, Custer chafed at the constraints imposed on him by General Stanley; in 1874 he was in charge of the expedition and could give his roaming propensities free rein.

An Unusual Fraternity The idea of visiting new country and bestowing names on the land naturally appealed to Custer, but he viewed himself not as another Lewis and Clark so much as a plainsman, a restless soul who liked to see what was over the next hill. He knew men like Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody, and they were his ideal. They belonged to what has been described as a "flamboyant fraternity," with a dress code that ran to long hair, buckskins, and a broad-brimmed hat set at a rakish angle. Custer expressed his allegiance to the plainsman ideal in his own choice of attireï¿½notably a buckskin hunting suit that allowed him to maintain his "Boy General" reputation for sartorial nonconformity. Of course, the clothes only partly made the man. Custer also prided himself on his competence as a pathfinder.

"I am here with six companies of cavalry, having separated from the main expedition several days ago...and marched to this point direct, a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles," he wrote his wife from General Stanley's "Stockade" on the Yellowstone River in 1873: The country was entirely unknown; no guides knew anything of the route before us.... At head-quarters it was not believed that I would get through. So strong was this impression, that in the official order issued for my movement there was a clause authorizing me to burn or abandon all my wagons or other public property, if, in my opinion such steps were necessary to preserve life. I could not help but smile to myself as I read that portion of the order. I had no idea of burning or abandoning a wagon. This could all be chalked up to conceit. But even critics like Private Ewert said that Custer was undaunted when it came to scouting ahead, and as the Black Hills expedition neared its end, Custer would tell his wife how busy he had been, "and how hard and constantly I have worked to try and make the expedition successful.

I have attempted to be several other things besides commanding officer-particularly guide-since the expedition started." The Black Hills The Black Hills expedition, in accordance with General Terry's orders, was to reconnoiter the route from Fort Lincoln to Bear Butte and then explore the area to the south, southeast, and southwest. Since it had to march 292 miles before it was even in position to enter the Black Hills proper, getting there and back was more than half the fun. Of the 60 days the expedition spent in the field, less than 26 were spent in the Black Hills. The rest were occupied crossing the prairie and Bad Lands. The expedition entered the Black Hills from the northwest on July 20 and exited them heading east on August 14. Prior to entering the Black Hills, the party's judgment on the country traversed appears to have been mostly negative.

Members of the engineering and scientific party told Lieutenant Calhoun that "they had formed a very unfavorable impression concerning this region." But on the 20th, "their unfavorable opinions vanished like the 'morning cloud and early dew,' and they were astonished to behold such a sudden change." Captain Ludlow, in his official report, confirmed Calhoun's observation: The change from the hot, dry, burned-up landscape...was wonderful. The temperature was delightful; the air laden with sweet wild odors; the grass knee-deep and exceedingly luxuriant and fresh; while wild cherries, blueberries, and gooseberries abounded, as well as many varieties of flowers. All these advantages, combined with that of an abundance of pure cold water, were ours.... On November 7, 1805, prematurely as it turned out, William Clark penned the immortal words: "Ocian in view! O! the joy!" His outburst can still send shivers down the spine. If Custer had an "O! the joy!" moment in the Black Hills, it occurred early, on July 25, when he led the expedition into what he named Floral Valley.

In his official dispatch he wrote: Its equal I have never seen. Every step of our march that day was amid flowers of the most exquisite colors and perfume. So luxuriant in growth were they that men plucked them without dismounting from the saddle.... It was a strange sight to glance back at the advancing columns of cavalry, and behold the men with beautiful bouquets in their hands, while the head-gear of the horses was decorated with wreaths of flowers fit to crown a queen of May. Ah, Fairy-land! Custer, for all of his reputation as a flamboyant officer with a flair for the dramatic, wrote prose that was often mannered and stiff. But the Black Hills had freed up the poet in him, resulting in this unforgettable image of soldiers at play in the fields of the Lord. Depression might stalk the land, and politics, as always, were a corrupt mess. But out in Dakota Territory the world was fresh as morning and the prospect of exploring unfamiliar countryï¿½and literally prospecting for goldï¿½kept hearts light. In this spirit, the exploration proceeded.

On July 26 William Illingworth perched his tripod and camera on a rocky promontory above Castle Creek valley and created a masterpiece-Western exploration's most thrilling photograph. Two strategies suggest themselves in portraying exploration. One can frame the subject from the explorers' perspective as they scan the country ahead. An artist at mid century, Thomas M. Burnham, did exactly that in painting "The Lewis and Clark Expedition." The area behind the two explorers is washed in the light of knowledge, while the area before them is cast in deep shadow. It is the dark mystery that they must penetrate, shedding light as they go. Illingworth favored a different strategy. He adopted the perspective of the uninvaded hills, observing the explorers' advance. He showed the expedition's wagon train snaking its way through the valley belowï¿½a serpent invading Paradise. Of course, that was not his judgment. His is the perspective from on high, God's view, the magisterial gaze.

Capturing it involves a sleight of hand, of course, placing the photographer in advance of the explorers, though evidence of how Illingworth managed this trick can be seen in the valley below where close inspection reveals his spring wagon with its precious cargo of glass plates and chemicals, awaiting his return from the heights. In the full image one can even see his developing tent on the rocks to the left. But such details need not spoil the illusion. Illingworth's photograph fairly shouts, "Heeeeere's Custer!!" Is there a finer picture anywhere illustrating the idea of exploration? On July 31 several of the expedition's officers enjoyed a sparkling good time, a moonlight-and-magnolia moment in the Black Hills. The abstemious Custer was away from camp doing his pathfinding, climbing Harney's Peak five miles to the east with a small party of dedicated explorers. They had "great difficulty" in making the ascent, but enjoyed the view from its crest, "the highest point in the Black Hills," Custer noted. There, "we drank the health of the veteran out of compliment to whom the peak was named"-General William S. Harney, in short, and presumably with water on Custer's part.

The big party was back at camp. The enlisted men whiled away the long summer day playing a game of baseball-a genuine Black Hills "first," including a dispute over the umpire's impartiality. Afterward, some of the cavalry officers hosted a champagne supper. A tarpaulin was spread under the pines, a box of cigars passed around, and bottles of champagneï¿½at least one per person, Illingworth's photograph showsï¿½uncorked. The gentlemen had become "rather 'boozy' before ten o'clock p.m.," Private Ewert observed; a reporter added, "The whole party were pretty well hobbled." Since Company H's captain, Frederick W. Benteen, was among the revellers, the H Company Glee Club provided musical accompaniment, then was sent to disturb the "peaceful slumbers" of a correspondent who had turned in early. The reporter repaid the quartet's renditions of "Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming," "Dinah's Wedding," "Vacant Chair," and "Under the Willows" with two bottles of whiskey, which, Ewert assures us, were gone before morning.

Custer's group did not straggle back from its Harney's Peak excursion until one o'clock in the morning. By then, no doubt, all the revelers were enjoying their "peaceful slumbers." I do not mean to minimize the expedition's hard work of clearing deadfalls, climbing mountains, and locating paths into the Black Hills' park-like valleys. Custer's party was so late getting back to camp from Harney's Peak because the return, Captain Ludlow reported, "was a struggle against almost every possible obstacle-rocks, creeks, marshes, willow and aspen thickets, pine timber, dead and fallen trees, steep hillsides and precipitous ravines." Perhaps having heard once too often that the Black Hills expedition was just an extended picnic, Private Charles "Chip" Creighton tartly remarked, "We had what you might call a picnic, with nothing to do but cut down trees and build roads." Gold In the opinion of most participants, however, it was all a grand picnic.

Illingworth's views of the various camps in the Black Hills seem less martial than Arcadian fantasy fulfilled-including his pictures of the "permanent camp" (August 1-5) in Agnes Park, named after a Custer family friend. From here, exploring parties fanned out to the south and southeast, one under Custer himself, and near this camp the prospectors, panning on French Creek on August 5, confirmed earlier reports. There was gold in the Black Hills, "in small, yet paying, quantities," to quote Custer's report. Private Creighton put his own spin on matters: I was detailed to accompany prospectors as one of a guard. This was a fine trip if you think looking for gold is fun. Try it sometime for your own enjoyment. Dig a hole four or five feet deep through gravel and sand until you come to what is called "bed-rock," then you commence to wash the gravel, and after having worked all day, you find no gold. If this doesn't satisfy you, repeat the process the next day and perhaps you will succeed in finding, by extra hard work, gold paying from four to five dollars; the next day nothing, and so on.

It is fun if you like it, and it's fun if you don't. Still, fun it was. The monotony of garrison duty over summer had been avoided, a relief to officers and men alike. Soldiers hunted the abundant game (no buffalo, however) and fished in crystalline streams; the trout rose readily to the fly. Even Private Ewert allowed that Agnes Park "is as near faultless as nature, unassisted by human hands, could make it." Everything considered, the 1874 expedition was a success. "In entering the Black Hills from any direction, the most serious, if not the only obstacles, were encountered at once, near the outer base," Custer reported. "This probably accounts for the mystery which has so long existed regarding the character of the interior." Many natural features now bore names-Custer's Gulch, Custer's Valley, Custer's Canyon, Custer Park. Like that veteran whom he toasted on July 31, Custer even had a mountain named in his honor, Custer Peak. No picnic would be complete without a group photograph, and Illingworth obliged.

On August 13 the officers and scientific men posed in camp on Box Elder Creek at the eastern edge of the Black Hills, with Custer lolling in the grass and his Arikara scout Bloody Knife seemingly standing guard over him. With that formality out of the way, it was time to head home. Wrote Custer: Nearly every one [was] loath to leave a region which had been found so delightful in almost every respect. Behind us the grass and foliage were clothed in green of the freshness of May. In front of us, as we cast our eyes over the plains below, we saw nothing but a comparatively parched, dried surface, the sun-burnt pasturage of which offered a most uninviting prospect both to horse and rider. Custer's prose was again pitch perfect, evoking the contrasting images of the West as garden and the West as desert. By extension, the expedition's departure from the Black Hills on August 14 could be considered an expulsion from a western Eden. Certainly, leaving the hills marked the end to the summer's idyll. Now the soldiers were impatient to be home.

The Black Hills expedition's return to Fort Lincoln on August 30 was triumphant but in striking contrast to its departure when the soldiers rode away with guidons snapping and the wagons in perfect formation. Now the caravan looked more like an army in retreat. Illingworth made a wonderful photograph of the returning expedition, bedraggled, certainly, but displaying the unmistakable swagger of success. And Elizabeth Custer provided such a good description of their arrival at Fort Lincoln that you can see in your mind what she saw with her eyes: When the day of their return came, I was simply wild with joy I hid behind the door as the command rode into garrison, ashamed to be seen crying and laughing and dancing up and down with excitement. I tried to remain there and receive the general, screened from the eyes of outsiders. It was impossible.... When we could take time to look every one over, they were all amusing enough.... Many, like the general, had grown heavy beards. All were sun-burnt, their hair faded, and their clothes so patched that the original blue of the uniform was scarcely visible....

The boots were out at the toes, and the clothing of some were so beyond repairing that the officers wanted to escape observation by slipping, with their tattered rags, into the kitchen-door. The instruments of the band were jammed and tarnished, but they still produced enough music for us to recognize the old tune of "Garryowen," to which the regiment always returned. By and by the long wagon-train appeared. Many of the covers had elk horns strapped to them, until they looked like strange bristling animals as they drew near. Some of the antlers were brought to us as presents. Besides them we had skins, specimens of gold and mica, and petrified shells of iridescent colors, snake rattles, pressed flowers, and petrified wood. My husband brought me a keg of the most delicious water from a mountain-stream. It was almost my only look at clear water for years.... In his reminiscences of service in the Seventh Cavalry from 1872 to 1876, Lieutenant Charles Varnum devoted a single paragraph to the Black Hills expedition since nothing startling had occurred.

"We marched west to the Little Missouri river & south to the Belle Fourche, then entered the hills near Inyan Kara peak, and passed through the hills emerging near where Rapid City, S.D., now is," Varnum recalled. "We were gone sixty days & marched about 1200 miles in all." Private Creighton summed things up even more succinctly: "Without any particularly exciting events, we arrived back at Fort Lincoln...." Conclusion All things considered, predictions were right: the Black Hills expedition had proven a pleasant summer's excursion. A simmering garrison feud between two enlisted men did result in a fatal shooting, and two other soldiers died of natural causes. The fact of Sioux ownership of the Black Hills had been confined to a few distant glimpses and one close (but largely peaceful) encounter on July 26 with a five-lodge hunting party of 27 Sioux from the Red Cloud Agency in Nebraska. The Hills were terra incognita only to whites; for the Sioux who regularly travelled through them, they were simply an extended backyard. Smoke signals were seen and interpreted as dire warnings of impending hostilities, but none materialized. Anticipated dangers proved as ephemeral as the smoke.

The biggest Sioux problem Custer encountered that summer was preventing his Arikara scouts from butchering the Sioux hunting party on the 26th. One of the Sioux was apparently wounded by a Santee scout when he chose to part company with Custer's column, but the general could fairly claim after his return: "Some thought I courted an engagement [with the Sioux]-such was not the case, and I congratulate myself and the country on the return of the expedition without bloodshed." For Custer, the big news that summer was that "at last" he had "killed a grisly after a most exciting hunt and contest." On August 7 he finally bagged his bearï¿½or so he claimed. Private Ewert insisted it was just an old cinnamon, not a grizzly, and doubt remained as to which member of the hunting party shown in the Illingworth photograph actually fired the fatal shot. "Colonel Ludlow, Bloody Knife, and Private Noonan are with me in the group," Custer wrote his wife, since "we constituted the hunting party." But, he added, "I have his claws." To the victor belong the spoils. That was Custer's bear.

Of course, scientific knowledge had been augmented in the process of getting Custer his trophy. Bill Goetzmann is not unkind in assessing the fruits of the Black Hills expedition, but clearly its scientific work was compromised by haste and mixed motives. In contrast were the reports issued in the wake of the Newton-Jenney expedition to the Black Hills the following year-a nearly five-month exploration mounted at the instigation of the Interior Department to determine "with accuracy whether the 'Black Hills' country does, or does not, contain valuable mineral deposits." Its final report, Goetzmann writes, "compared favorably with anything ever done by government explorers." Too, the 1875 expedition reflected a shift already under way from military reconnaissances like Custer's to "academic-oriented" civilian ventures "staffed by experts from Eastern and national institutions." The age of the pathfinder in army blue was drawing to a close. Finally, gold had been discovered in the Black Hills in 1874 in quantities sufficient to make newspaper headlines and start excursionists outfitted with pick axes, shovels, and pans on their way to Dakota, in further violation of Sioux treaty rights.

Wishful thinking propelled them, since, as Captain Benteen observed, on "our summer picnic to the Black Hills of Dakota,...monstrous little of the root of all evil" was actually found. Nevertheless, "reports of having gotten such fabulous quantities, turned about half the West loose, searching for their share of the golden content of the Hills." The Indian scouts who in 1874 interpreted the smoke signals they observed as portents of trouble ahead had only to wait two years to see their prophecy fulfilled. History of the Black Hills - Wind Cave National Park (U.S. National Park Service) Black Hills History History of the Black Hills Wind Cave is considered sacred and culturally significant to the Lakota and Cheyenne, and throughout the centuries, many tribal nations lived and traveled within reach of what would become Wind Cave National Park. The first explorers to see the Black Hills were probably Francis and Louis-Joseph Verendrye. These French explorers were traveling through South Dakota near the Missouri River. The exact route they were using is unknown, but according to Louis-Joseph's journal, on New Year's Day in 1743 they were on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River and were "...in sight of mountains".

It was reported that their American Indian guides would not take them any closer to the mountains because hostile bands of Indians were known to live there. Lewis and Clark heard tales about the Hills from other traders and trappers, but it wasn't until 1823 that Jedediah Smith and a group of about 15 traders actually traveled through them. While fur trade was at its peak, the Black Hills were explored to some extent by adventuresome trappers, but because the hills were considered sacred by the Lakota, most trappers avoided the area. Several reports of the discovery of gold in the "Black Hills" were heard during this time. However, exactly where the gold was discovered was often confusing because the Laramie Range in Wyoming was also occasionally called the "Black Hills". As immigration across the continent increased there was a marked decline in American Indian-white relations. The Army established outposts nearby, but they seldom entered the Hills Black thinking that to do so would surely cause trouble. Trouble, however, was already brewing. Bands of Lakota reportedly raided settlements and then retreated to the cover of the Hills. Because of this, Lt. G.K.

Warren was assigned the task of making a thorough reconnaissance of the plains of South Dakota, including the area known as the Black Hills. The study of the area was supplemented by another reconnaissance in 1859-60 by Capt. W.F. Reynolds and Dr. F.V. Hayden. Panning for Gold NPS Photo In 1861, residents of what is now Eastern South Dakota were organizing groups of miners and explorers to investigate the Hills and reports of gold there. In 1865 they asked Congress for a military reconnaissance to do a geological survey on the Black Hills. The military recognized the importance the Lakota Nations attached to the area and in 1867 Gen. William T. Sherman stated the Army was not in any position to investigate to the Black Hills and would not protect any civilians who did so. Pressure to move into the Hills was temporarily halted in 1868 when the land west of the Missouri was granted to the Lakota in an effort to bring about a lasting peace with the tribes of the plains. The treaty prohibited settlers or miners from entering the Hills without authorization, in return the Lakota agreed to cease hostilities against pioneers and people building the railroads.

In 1870 stories continued to circulate in Eastern South Dakota about gold and other wealth to be had in the Hills. The citizens of Yankton again pressed for an expedition. The Army and the Department of the Interior tried to discourage any entry into the Hills. American Indian raids and constant pressure from the citizens of Yankton caused General Phillip Sheridan to propose an expedition to investigate the possibility of establishing a fort in the Black Hills. The Army suggested a fort to aid in controlling the bands of American Indians who would raid settlements and then return to the Hills to hide. The expedition, led by Lt. Col. George A. Custer left from Fort Lincoln rather than Fort Laramie because of the large concentration of American Indians at Fort Laramie and the trouble that such an expedition would have caused. The purpose of Custer's expedition was to find a suitable location for a fort. However, for unexplained reasons, a geologist and miners were included in the party. The miners occupied their time searching for gold and on July 30, near the present day town of Custer, their efforts were rewarded. After Custer's report of gold in the Hills, the citizens of Yankton again petitioned the government to open the Hills.

The government held firm to the position that the Hills belonged to the Lakota. This did not stop the rush of hopeful miners. The first group to reach the Hills was the Gordon Party. Originally lead by Thomas Russell and later by John Gordon, the party consisted of 28 adventurers including Annie Tallent (Tallent is credited with being the first white woman in the Black Hills). They were soon forced to leave by the Army. During the winter of 1874 and 75 the army tried to keep miners and settlers out, but by spring they found the task to be impossible. In 1875 another expedition organized by the Army entered the Hills to determine its true mineral value. Walter Jenney reported gold could be extracted with sophisticated equipment, but individual miners would have a hard time of it. By 1875 Col. Richard I. Dodge estimated 800 white men were mining or residing in the Hills. Mining camps were established near Custer, Hill City and Deadwood. As old claims played out, new ones were found and towns died or were born almost overnight. By 1876, approximately 10,000 people populated the Hills.

In the spring of 1875 the federal government attempted to solve the problem of ownership of the Hills by inviting American Indian leaders to Washington D.C.. The American Indians refused all offers and would not relinquish ownership of the land. Some of the Indian wars that followed were a result of these problems. The ownership of the Black Hills is still in question. A 1980 Supreme Court decision that attempted to settle the issue by paying the Lakota tribes for the land was not accepted the Lakota, and many of them are still trying to gain ownership of the land sacred to them. 1 Six years later in 1874 gold was discovered in the Black - HISTORY - idk View Full Document 1. Six years later, in 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota (on the Sioux reserva±on) when Col. William Armstrong Custer led a "geological" expedi±on into the Black Hills. 3. The Ba²le o³ Li²le Bighorn (1876) (AKA "Custer's Last Stand") followed. 1. Led by Crazy Horse and Si´ng Bull , some Sioux stubbornly refused to go to the reserva±on.

2. Custer led about 400 cavalry against Crazy Horse who was labeled as a "hos±le" Indian. Custer faced some 10,000 Indians, about 2,500 warriors. All 200+ or so of Custer's detachment were killed, including Custer himself, "Chief Yellow Hair." 3. The Li´le Bighorn ba´le brought the U.S. military out for revenge and sealed the Indian-white rela±onship as li´le be´er than warfare. 4. The Nez Perce tribe, led by Chie³ Joseph , revolted when the government tried to force them onto a reserva±on. They bugged out over some 1,700 miles, across the Rocky Mountains, and ¶ed for Canada. 1. They were caught and defeated at the Ba²le o³ Bear Paw Mountain only 40 miles from the Canada border. Chief Joseph "buried his hatchet" and gave his famous speech saying, “·rom where the sun now stands I will µght no more forever.” 2.

The Nez Perce were sent to a Kansas reserva±on where 40% died from disease. This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. View Full Document 5. The Apache of the Southwest were troublesome to the Army. Led by Geronimo , the military chased him and the Apache into Mexico where he proved to be a very wily adversary. 1. The apache, and Geronimo, were eventually caught, imprisoned in Florida and then Oklahoma. 6. The Indians were subdued due to (1) railroads, (2) diseases, (3) lack of bu±alo, (4) war, and (5) the loss of their land to white se²lement . 3. Bellowing Herds of Bison 1. There was an es³mated 15 million bu±alo around by the end of the Civil War. The bu±alo herds diminished largely due to the railroads . 1. The railroads literally split the Great Plains into sec³ons. This decreased the bu±alo's ability to roam around. Even more detrimental, railroads brought more and more whites who put more and more pressure on them. 2.

Bu±alo were killed (a) for hides, (b) for sport, and (c) to kill o± the Indian way of life . 3. By 1885, an es³mated only 1,000 survived, mostly located in Yellowstone Na³onal Park. The vast majority died o± or "went the way of the bu±alo." 4. The End of the Trail 1. By the 1880's, the people were beginning to recognize the plight of the American Indian. Helen Hunt Jackson 's book A Century of Dishonor helped outline the injus³ce done to Indians by the U.S. government. Her novel Ramona had the same e±ect in ´c³on form. 1. Na³ve Americans faced a stark decision: to join modern ³mes, s³ck with tradi³onal ways, or somehow try to mix both. 2. Many whites wanted to try to help the Indians "walk the white man's road." 3. Others felt the tough policies of containing Indians on reserva³ons and punishing "hos³les" was the way to go. This is the end of the preview.

Sign up to access the rest of the document. TERM 1. 2. 3. Chapter 29: Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad The Bull Moose Campai ch 29.docx Black Hills of Dakota Black Hills of Dakota ▼ Primary Sources ▼ Gold miners in the Black Hills of Dakota In 1874 General George A. Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills of Dakota. He reported that he discovered gold in the area. The following year the United States government attempted to buy the Black Hills for six million dollars. The area was considered sacred by the Sioux and they refused to sell. Custer's story attracted gold hunters and in April 1876 the mining town of Deadwood was established in the area. This provoked the Sioux and resulted in the war that led to the battle of Little Bighorn . Gold miners in the Black Hills of Dakota Primary Sources (1) Nelson Miles , Personal Recollections and Observations (1896) The cause of the Indian War of 1876-77 in the Northwest may be briefly stated. That country originally belonged to the great Crow Tribe of friendly Indians.

The Sioux Indians drifted from the region of the Great Lakes, and as they were driven west, in turn, they drove the Crows back to the mountains. The Sioux, or cutthroats, as they were called, finally took the name of the Dakota Nation, made up principally of Uncapapas, Ogalallas, Minneconjoux, Sans Arcs, and Brules. Also affiliated with them were the Cheyennes, Yanktonais, Tetons, Santees, and Assiniboins. They claimed the whole of that northwest country, what is now North and South Dakota, northern Nebraska, eastern Wyoming, and eastern Montana. In 1869 the government, in consideration of the Indians giving up a large part of their country, granted them large reservations, known as the Spotted Tail and Red Cloud agencies, and other reservations west of the Missouri. It also allowed them a large range of country as hunting-grounds, and, in addition, agreed to give them stated annuities. It was distinctly understood that the government would keep white people from occupying or trespassing upon the lands granted to the Indians.

In the main, the Indians adhered to the conditions of the treaty, but unfortunately the government could not, or did not, comply with its part of the compact. Between the years 1869-75 the pressure of advancing civilization was very great upon all sides. The hunters, prospectors, miners, and settlers were trespassing upon the lands granted to the Indians. It was generally believed that the Black Hills country possessed rich mineral deposits, and miners were permitted to prospect for mines. Surveying parties were allowed to traverse the country for routes upon which to construct railways, and even the government sent exploring expeditions into the Black Hills country, that reported evidences of gold fields. All this created great excitement on the part of the white people and a strong desire to occupy that country. At the same time it exasperated the Indians to an intense degree, until disaffection developed into open hostilities. (2) General George Crook , Autobiography (1889) The discovery of gold in the Black Hills was attracting much attention amongst the people of the country. Many expeditions were being fitted out with the view of going into that country.

As it was on the Sioux reservation, the authorities in Washington were anxious to prevent this violation of the treaty stipulations. Several parties were prevented from going in. General Sheridan, in command of the Division of the Missouri, issued an order directing the troops to arrest any such persons attempting to go into the Black Hills and to destroy all their transportation, guns, and property generally. But notwithstanding all these precautions, many had sifted in. I was ordered to proceed to that country and eject these people. (3) John F. Finerty , Warpath and Bivouac (1890) The white man's government might make what treaties it pleased with the Indians, but it was quite a different matter to get the white man himself to respect the official parchment. Three-fourths of the Black Hills region and all of the Big Horn were barred by the Great Father and Sitting Bull against the enterprise of the daring, restless and acquisitive Caucasian race. The military expeditions under Generals Sully, Connor, Stanley and Custer, all of which were partially unsuccessful, had attracted the attention of the country to the great region already specified.

The beauty and variety of the landscape; the immense quantities of the noblest species of American game; the serrated mountains and forest-covered hills; the fine grazing lands and rushing streams, born of the snows of the majestic Big Horn peaks; and, above all else, the rumor of great gold deposits, the dream of wealth which hurled Cortez on Mexico and Pizarro on Peru, fired the Caucasian heart with the spirit of adventure and exploration, to which the attendant and well-recognized danger lent an additional zest. The expedition of General Ouster, which entered the Black Hills proper - those of Dakota - in 1874, confirmed the reports of gold finds, and thereafter a wall of fire, not to mention a wall of Indians, could not stop the encroachments of that terrible white race before which all other races of mankind, from Thibet to Hindostan and from Algiers to Zululand, have gone down.

At the news of gold the grizzled '49s' shook the dust of California from his feet and started overland, accompanied by daring comrades, for the far-distant Hills; the Australian miner left his pick half buried in the antipodean sands and started, by ship and saddle, for the same goal; the diamond hunter of Brazil and of the Cape; the veteran prospectors of Colorado and western Montana; the Tar Heels of the Carolina hills; the reduced gentlemen of Europe; the worried and worn city clerks of London, Liverpool, New York, or Chicago; the stout English yeoman, tired of high rents and poor returns; the sturdy Scotchman, tempted from stubborn plodding after wealth to seek fortune under more rapid conditions; the light-hearted Irishman, who drinks in the spirit of adventure with his mother's milk; the daring mine delvers of Wales and of Cornwall; the precarious gambler of Monte Carlo - in short, every man who lacked fortune, and who would rather be scalped than remain poor, saw in the vision of the Black Hills, El Dorado.

(4) Chief Joseph , An Indian's Views of Indian Affairs, North American Review (April, 1879) My friends, I have been asked to show you my heart. I am glad to have a chance to do so. I want the white people to understand my people. Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake. I will tell you all about our people, and then you can judge whether an Indian is a man or not. I believe much trouble and blood would be saved if we opened our hearts more. I will tell you in my way how the Indian sees things. The white man has more words to tell you how they look to him, but it does not require many words to speak the truth. What I have to say will come from my heart, and I will speak with a straight tongue. Ah-cum-kin-i-ma-me-hut (the Great Spirit) is looking at me, and will hear me... The first white men of your people who came to our country were named Lewis and Clarke. They also brought many things that our people had never seen. They talked straight, and our people gave them a great feast, as a proof that their hearts were friendly.

These men were very kind. They made presents to our chiefs and our people made presents to them. We had a great many horses, of which we gave them what they needed, and they gave us guns and tobacco in return. All the Nez Perces made friends with Lewis and Clarke, and agreed to let them pass through their country, and never to make war on white men. This promise the Nez Perces have never broken... For a short time we lived quietly. But this could not last. White men had found gold in the mountains around the land of winding water. They stole a great many horses from us, and we could not get them back because we were Indians. The white men told lies for each other. They drove off a great many of our cattle. Some white men branded our young cattle so they could claim them. We had no friend who would plead our cause before the law councils. It seemed to me that some of the white men in Wallowa were doing these things on purpose to get up a war. They knew that we were not strong enough to fight them. I labored hard to avoid trouble and bloodshed. We gave up some of our country to the white men, thinking that then we could have peace.

We were mistaken. The white man would not let us alone. We could have avenged our wrongs many times, but we did not. Whenever the Government has asked us to help them against other Indians, we have never refused. When the white men were few and we were strong we could have killed them all off, but the Nez Perces wished to live at peace. Black Hills History | Black Hills & Badlands - South Dakota The history of the Black Hills is short and turbulent. You are here Home > Explore the Area > Black Hills History The history of the Black Hills is short and turbulent. In fact, dinosaur bones and some ancient archaeological sites from prehistory are the only hard evidence of happenings prior to 1700. The first trace of modern civilization dates from 1743 when New World explorers claimed the region for France. Sioux Indian tribes achieved dominance of Dakota in the 1780s and there was a brief but legendary Fur Trade Era that flourished between 1817 and 1857. Homesteading, settlement and railroading were well underway in eastern South Dakota in 1857, but the Black Hills remained an unknown wilderness of Indian Country.

The first maps of the Hills were drawn from military reconnaissance in 1856, and Lt. Col. George A. Custer touched off a gold rush to the Black Hills when his expedition discovered gold in 1874. Within 15 years, the Hills were “civilized” with settlements, railroads, institutions, industry and agriculture. In the process, the native peoples of Dakota were relegated to “reservations.” Additional Information Here’s a timeline of some noteworthy dates in Dakota history: 1743 French explorers claim the region for France 1794 Sioux achieve dominance over Arikara tribes 1803 United State makes the Louisiana Purchase from France 1804 Lewis & Clark expedition 1858 Eastern South Dakota is opened to white settlement 1861 Dakota Territory (SD, ND, MT, WY) is established 1868 Treaty of Ft.

Laramie prescribes Black Hills as Indian Reservation 1874 Gold is discovered in the Black Hills 1876 Gold Rush to Deadwood Gulch lures thousands 1889 South Dakota achieves statehood 1890 Wounded Knee massacre ends the Indian Wars 1906 First railroads from the east reach the Black Hills 1920 Gov. Peter Norbeck establishes Custer State Park 1927 Gutzon Borglum begins work on Mount Rushmore 1941 Mount Rushmore is completed Share:

Question: What was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874?
Answer: Gold