<span>Great Sioux War of 1876<span>Part of the Sioux Wars, American Indian Wars</span><span>
<span>Custer's last stand at Little Bighorn in the Crow Indian Reservation.</span></span><span><span>Date1876–1877</span><span>Location<span>Montana Territory, Dakota Territory, Wyoming Territory, Nebraska, Crow Indian Reservation[1][2][3][4]</span></span><span>ResultUnited States victory</span></span>Belligerents<span><span><span> United States</span>ShoshoneCrowPawnee</span><span>LakotaDakotaCheyenneArapaho</span></span>Commanders and leaders<span><span>George CrookAlfred H. Terry<span>George A. Custer †</span>Nelson A. MilesWesley Merritt</span><span><span>Crazy Horse </span><span>Sitting Bull </span>Little WolfDull Knife</span></span>Casualties and losses<span>310 killed265 killed</span></span><span><span>[show]</span><span>vte</span>Great Sioux War of 1876</span>
<span><span>[show]</span><span>vte</span>Sioux Wars</span>
The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations which occurred between 1876 and 1877 between the Lakota, Sioux, and Northern Cheyenne and the government of the United States. The cause of the war was the desire of the U.S. government to obtain ownership of the Black Hills. Gold had been discovered in the Black Hills, settlers began to encroach onto Native American lands, and the Sioux and Cheyenne refused to cede ownership to the U.S. Traditionally, the United States military and historians place the Lakota at the center of the story, especially given their numbers, but some Indians believe the Cheyenne were the primary target of the U.S. campaign.[5]
Among the many battles and skirmishes of the war was the Battle of the Little Bighorn, often known as Custer's Last Stand, the most storied of the many encounters between the U.S. army and mounted Plains Indians. That Indian victory notwithstanding, the U.S. leveraged national resources to force the Indians to surrender, primarily by attacking and destroying their encampments and property. The Great Sioux War took place under the presidencies of Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes. The Agreement of 1877 (19 Stat. 254, enacted February 28, 1877) officially annexed Sioux land and permanently established Indian reservations.
In the late 1400s and 1500s, the main reason for exploration in the New World was the need for alternate trade routes. They have no idea the Americas even existed, however.
