On the Heartbreaking Story of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians and the Black Hills

   While it's true that both parties violated the Treaty of 1868 (Better Known as the Laramie Treaty), the American government's forceful pilfering of the Black Hills was easily the most egregious of the violations. It of course all started with the discovery of gold in that area circa 1873 (President Grant wanted to get the country back on the gold standard and so the Black Hills clearly gave him a woody), the flooding in of miners looking to become rich overnight, and the Indians unsurprisingly not appreciating this invasion. Needless to say, the latter  went on the warpath (literally) killing as many of the unwanted pilgrims as possible. Unfortunately for these Indians, it also gave President Grant the pretext to send in the cavalry and before you knew it we had Custer's last stand (AKA, the Battle of the Little Big Horn) and the final chapter of the plains Indians. If only they hadn't found that damned gold (though, yes, Sherman, Custer, Grant, Sheridan, etc. would have no doubt come up with another excuse to clear the northern plains of these "savages" - it was simply how they were wired).