Editing Sitting Bull (section)

==Great Sioux War of 1876==
{{further|Great Sioux War of 1876}}
[[File:Sitting Bull by Goff, 1881.png|thumb|An 1881 [[cabinet card]] of Sitting Bull]]
[[File:Sittingbullharpersweekly.jpg|thumb|An illustration of Sitting Bull, published in the December 8, 1877, issue of ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'']]
Sitting Bull's band of Hunkpapa continued to attack migrating parties and forts in the late 1860s. In 1871, the [[Northern Pacific Railway]] conducted a [[surveying|survey]] for a route across the northern plains directly through Hunkpapa lands, it encountered stiff Lakota resistance.<ref>[[#Reference-idUtley1973|Utley, ''Frontier Regulars'' 1973]], p. 242.</ref> The same railway people returned the following year accompanied by federal troops. Sitting Bull and the Hunkpapa attacked the survey party, which was forced to turn back.<ref>[[#Reference-idBailey1979|Bailey 1979]], pp. 84–85.</ref> In 1873, the military accompaniment for the surveyors was increased again, but Sitting Bull's forces resisted the survey "most vigorously."<ref>[[#Reference-idUtley1973|Utley ''Frontier Regulars'' 1973]], p. 242.</ref> The [[Panic of 1873]] forced the Northern Pacific Railway's backers, such as [[Jay Cooke]], into bankruptcy, which halted construction of the railroad through Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota territory.<ref name="Lubetkin 2006 ">{{cite book |last=Lubetkin |first=M |title=Jay Cooke's gamble : the Northern Pacific Railroad, the Sioux, and the Panic of 1873 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8061-4468-9 |oclc=171287606 }}</ref>

After the 1848 discovery of gold in the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] and dramatic gains in new wealth from it, other men became interested in the potential for [[gold mining]] in the [[Black Hills]].

In 1874, Lt. Col. [[George Armstrong Custer]] led a military expedition from [[Fort Abraham Lincoln]] near [[Bismarck, North Dakota|Bismarck]] to explore the Black Hills for gold and to determine a suitable location for a military fort in the Hills.<ref>[[#Reference-idUtley1973|Utley ''Frontier Regulars'' 1973]], p. 244.</ref> Custer's announcement of gold in the Black Hills triggered the [[Black Hills Gold Rush]]. Tensions increased between the Lakota and [[European Americans]] seeking to move into the Black Hills.<ref>[[#Reference-idBailey1979|Bailey 1979]], pp. 106–07.</ref>

Although Sitting Bull did not attack Custer's expedition in 1874, the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] was increasingly pressured by citizens to open the Black Hills to mining and settlement. Failing in an attempt to negotiate a purchase or lease of the Hills, the government in Washington had to find a way around the promise to protect the Sioux in their land, as specified in the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie.<ref>Matteoni, ''Prairie Man'', pp. 67–69.</ref> It was alarmed at reports of Sioux depredations, some of which were encouraged by Sitting Bull.

In November 1875, President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] ordered all Sioux bands outside the [[Great Sioux Reservation]] to move onto the reservation, knowing that not all would likely comply. As of February 1, 1876, the [[United States Department of the Interior|Interior Department]] certified as hostile those bands who continued to live off the reservation.<ref name="Utley p. 248">[[#Reference-idUtley1973|Utley ''Frontier Regulars'' 1973]], p. 248.</ref> This certification allowed the military to pursue Sitting Bull and other Lakota bands as "hostiles".<ref name="Utley p. 248"/><ref name="Black Hills Visitor 2015">{{cite web |title=Native American Culture and the Black Hills 1874-1876 – Black Hills Visitor |website=Black Hills Visitor |date=October 12, 2015 |url=https://blackhillsvisitor.com/learn/native-american-culture-and-the-black-hills-1874-1876/ |access-date=December 13, 2020 |archive-date=October 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004125658/https://blackhillsvisitor.com/learn/native-american-culture-and-the-black-hills-1874-1876/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Based on tribal oral histories, historian Margot Liberty theorizes that many Lakota bands allied with the [[Cheyenne]] during the Plains Wars because they thought the other nation was under attack by the U.S. Given this connection, she suggests the major war should have been called "The Great Cheyenne War". Since 1860, the Northern Cheyenne had led several battles among the Plains Indians. Before 1876, the U.S. Army had destroyed seven Cheyenne camps, more than those of any other nation.<ref name="cheyenne">{{cite web |last=Liberty |first=Dr. Margot |url=http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/cheyenneprimacy.htm |title=Cheyenne Primacy: The Tribes' Perspective As Opposed To That Of The United States Army; A Possible Alternative To "The Great Sioux War Of 1876" |publisher=Friends of the Little Bighorn |access-date=January 13, 2008 |archive-date=October 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031181106/http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/cheyenneprimacy.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Other historians, such as [[Robert M. Utley]] and Jerome Greene, also use Lakota oral testimony, but they have concluded that the Lakota coalition, of which Sitting Bull was the ostensible head, was the primary target of the federal government's pacification campaign.<ref>{{cite book |title=Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot |last=Utley |first=Robert M. |year=1993 |publisher=Henry Holt&Co. |location=New York City |isbn=0-8050-8830-X |pages=88, 122 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Battles and Skirmishes of the Great Sioux War, 1876–77: The Military View |last=Greene |first=Jerome |year=1993 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman, OK |isbn=0-8061-2535-7 |pages=xvi, xvii }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Lakota and Cheyenne: Indian Views of the Great Sioux War, 1876–1877 |last=Greene |first=Jerome |year=1994 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman, OK |isbn=0-8061-3245-0 |page=xv }}</ref>

During the period 1868–1876, Sitting Bull developed into one of the most important Native American political leaders. After the [[Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868)]] and the creation of the Great Sioux Reservation, many traditional Sioux warriors, such as Red Cloud of the Oglala and [[Spotted Tail]] of the [[Brulé]], moved to reside permanently on the reservations. They were largely dependent for subsistence on the U.S. Indian agencies. Many other chiefs, including members of Sitting Bull's Hunkpapa band such as Gall, at times, lived temporarily at the agencies. They needed the supplies at a time when white encroachment and the depletion of buffalo herds reduced their resources and challenged Native American independence.{{Citation needed|date=June 2012}}

In 1875, the Northern Cheyenne, Hunkpapa, Oglala, Sans Arc, and Minneconjou camped together for a [[Sun Dance]], with both the Cheyenne [[medicine man]] White Bull or Ice and Sitting Bull in association. This ceremonial alliance preceded their fighting together in 1876.<ref name="cheyenne" /> Sitting Bull had a major revelation.

<blockquote>At the climactic moment, "Sitting Bull intoned, 'The Great Spirit has given our enemies to us. We are to destroy them. We do not know who they are. They may be soldiers.' Ice too observed, 'No one then knew who the enemy were&nbsp;– of what tribe.'...They were soon to find out."
:— Utley 1992: 122–24</blockquote>

Sitting Bull's refusal to adopt any dependence on the U.S. government meant that at times he and his small band of warriors lived isolated on the [[Great Plains|Plains]]. When Native Americans were threatened by the United States, numerous members from various Sioux bands and other tribes, such as the Northern Cheyenne, came to Sitting Bull's camp. His reputation for "strong medicine" developed as he continued to evade the European Americans.

After the ultimatum on January 1, 1876, when the U.S. Army began to track down as hostiles those Sioux and others living off the reservation, Native Americans gathered at Sitting Bull's camp. He took an active role in encouraging this "unity camp". He sent scouts to the reservations to recruit warriors and told the Hunkpapa to share supplies with those Native Americans who joined them. An example of his generosity was Sitting Bull's provision for [[Wooden Leg]]'s Northern Cheyenne tribe. They had been impoverished by Captain Reynolds' March 17, 1876, attack and fled to Sitting Bull's camp for safety.<ref name="cheyenne" />

Over the course of the first half of 1876, Sitting Bull's camp continually expanded as natives joined him for safety in numbers. His leadership had attracted warriors and families, creating an extensive village estimated at more than 10,000 people. Lt. Col. Custer came across this large camp on June 25, 1876. Sitting Bull did not take a direct military role in the ensuing battle; instead, he acted as a spiritual leader. A week prior to the attack, he had performed the Sun Dance, in which he fasted and sacrificed over 100 pieces of flesh from his arms.<ref name="pbs" />

===Battle of the Little Bighorn===
{{Main|Battle of the Little Bighorn}}
[[File:little bighorn memorial overview with clouds.jpg|thumb|The area of [[Big Horn County, Montana]] where the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]] was fought]]
On June 25, 1876, Custer's scouts discovered Sitting Bull's camp along the Little Big Horn River, known as the Greasy Grass River to the Lakota.

After being ordered to attack, Custer's 7th Cavalry's troops lost ground quickly and were forced to retreat. Sitting Bull's followers, led into battle by Crazy Horse, counterattacked and ultimately defeated Custer while surrounding and laying siege to the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn#Aftermath|other two battalions led by Reno and Benteen]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Powers, Thomas |title=How the Battle of Little Bighorn Was Won |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/How-the-Battle-of-Little-Bighorn-Was-Won.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408214831/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/How-the-Battle-of-Little-Bighorn-Was-Won.html |archive-date=April 8, 2013 |access-date=February 22, 2013 |work=Smithsonian Magazine }}</ref>

The Native Americans' victory celebrations were short-lived. Public shock and outrage at Custer's defeat and death, and the government's understanding of the military capability of the remaining Sioux, led the [[Department of War]] to assign thousands more soldiers to the area. Over the next year, the new American military forces pursued the Lakota, forcing many of the Native Americans to surrender. Sitting Bull refused to do so and in May 1877 led his band across the border into the [[North-West Territories]], Canada. He remained in exile for four years near [[Wood Mountain Regional Park|Wood Mountain]], refusing a pardon and the chance to return.<ref>[http://woodmountain.ca/ Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071204211700/http://www.woodmountain.ca/ |date=December 4, 2007 }} official site.</ref> When crossing the border into Canadian territory, Sitting Bull was met by the [[North-West Mounted Police|Mounties]] of the region. During this meeting, [[James Morrow Walsh]], commander of the North-West Mounted Police, explained to Sitting Bull that the Lakota were now on British soil and must obey British law. Walsh emphasized that he enforced the law equally and that every person in the territory had a right to justice. Walsh became an advocate for Sitting Bull and the two became good friends for the remainder of their lives.<ref>Bridger, Bobby. ''Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull: Inventing the Wild West''. University of Texas Press, 2002, pp. 270–88</ref>

While in Canada, Sitting Bull also met with [[Crowfoot]], who was a leader of the [[Blackfoot Confederacy|Blackfeet]], long-time powerful enemies of the Lakota and Cheyenne. Sitting Bull wished to make peace with the Blackfeet Nation and Crowfoot. As an advocate for peace himself, Crowfoot eagerly accepted the tobacco peace offering. Sitting Bull was so impressed by Crowfoot that he named one of his sons after him.<ref>Dempsey, H. A. (1972). ''Crowfoot, Chief of the Blackfeet'' (1st ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, P. 91</ref>

Sitting Bull and his people stayed in Canada for four years. Due to the smaller size of the buffalo herds in Canada, Sitting Bull and his men found it difficult to find enough food to feed their starving people. Sitting Bull's presence in the country led to increased tensions between the Canadian and the United States governments.<ref>Reis, Ronald A. ''Legends of the Wild West: Sitting Bull'' Infobase Publishing, 2010, pp. 81–82</ref> Before Sitting Bull left Canada, he may have visited Walsh for a final time and left a ceremonial headdress as a memento.<ref>''Kensington, Museums Secrets: The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto'', History TV, 2012</ref>

===Surrender===
[[File:Fort Buford 2010.jpg|thumb|[[Fort Buford]]'s commanding officer's quarters in present-day [[Williams County, North Dakota]], where Sitting Bull's surrender ceremony was held]]
[[File:Sitting Bull and family 1881 at Ft Randall rear L-R Good Feather Woman (sister), Walks Looking (daughter) front L-R Her Holy Door (mother), Sitting Bull, Many Horses (daughter) with her son, Courting a Woman.jpg|thumb|Sitting Bull and family 1881 at Fort Randall. Rear L–R: Good Feather Woman (sister), Walks Looking (daughter); Front L–R: Her Holy Door (mother), Sitting Bull, Many Horses (daughter) with her son, Courting a Woman]]
[[File:Sitting Bull (Tatonka-I-Yatanka), a Hunkpapa Sioux, 1885 - NARA - 530896.jpg|thumb|Sitting Bull in 1885]]
Hunger and desperation eventually forced Sitting Bull and 186 of his family and followers to return to the United States and surrender on July 19, 1881. Sitting Bull had his young son [[Crow Foot]] surrender his [[Winchester Rifle]] to major David H. Brotherton, commanding officer of [[Fort Buford]]. Sitting Bull said to Brotherton, "I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle".<ref name="pbs"/> In the parlor of the Commanding Officer's Quarters in a ceremony the next day, he told the four soldiers, 20 warriors and other guests in the small room that he wished to regard the soldiers and the white race as friends but he wanted to know who would teach his son the new ways of the world. Two weeks later, after waiting in vain for other members of his tribe to follow him from Canada, Sitting Bull and his band were transferred to [[Fort Yates]], the military post located adjacent to the [[Standing Rock Agency]]. This [[Standing Rock Indian Reservation|reservation]] straddles the present-day boundary between North and South Dakota.<ref>{{cite web |title=Visit Us |url=https://www.standingrock.org/content/visit-us |website=Standing Rock Sioux Tribe |access-date=December 13, 2020 |archive-date=February 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202095818/https://www.standingrock.org/content/visit-us |url-status=live }}</ref>

Sitting Bull and his band of 186 people were kept separate from the other [[Hunkpapa]] gathered at the agency. [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] officials were concerned that he would stir up trouble among the recently surrendered northern bands. On August 26, 1881, he was visited by [[United States census|U.S. census]] taker William T. Selwyn, who counted 12 people in the Hunkpapa leader's immediate family and 41 families, totaling 195 people, were recorded in Sitting Bull's band.<ref>Ephriam D. Dickson III, [http://www.sdshspress.com/index.php?&id=220&action=912 ''The Sitting Bull Surrender Census: The Lakotas at Standing Rock Agency, 1881''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716025207/http://www.sdshspress.com/index.php?&id=220&action=912 |date=July 16, 2011 }}, Pierre: South Dakota State Historical Society Press, 2010, pp. 23–33.</ref>

The military decided to transfer Sitting Bull and his band to [[Fort Randall]] to be held as prisoners of war. Loaded onto a [[steamboat]], the band of 172 people was sent down the [[Missouri River]] to Fort Randall near present-day [[Pickstown, South Dakota]] on the southern border of the state, where they spent the next 20 months. They were allowed to return north to the Standing Rock Agency in May 1883.<ref name="pbs"/>

In 1883, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that Sitting Bull had been baptized into the [[Catholic Church]]. [[James McLaughlin (Indian agent)|James McLaughlin]], Indian agent at Standing Rock Agency, dismissed these reports, saying: "The reported baptism of Sitting-Bull is erroneous. There is no immediate prospect of such ceremony so far as I am aware."<ref>Whittaker, ''A Complete Life of General Custer,'' Volume 2, p. 535.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1883/04/13/102936772.pdf |title=Sitting Bull becomes a Catholic |newspaper=New York Times |date=April 13, 1883 |access-date=April 11, 2011 |archive-date=July 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710062623/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1883/04/13/102936772.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>'' Chicago Daily Tribune'', May 26, 1883, 8.</ref>