Editing Sitting Bull (section)

===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>