Custer's Revenge

Custer's Revenge

The Battle of Little Bighorn is one of the most significant battles in American history. This is not because of the weaponry used, the casualties, or even the battle strategies. This is because the battle is one of the only big battles that Native Americans won against the U.S. military. After this battle, the Native American power in the West ended. Ironically, by winning the Battle of Little Bighorn, the Sioux and Cheyenne actually sped up the downfall of Native American power.

In 1876, after a treaty dispute, President Ulysses S. Grant issued an ultimatum stating that all Native Americans had to be on the Great Sioux Reservation by January 31st. When this ultimatum was not met, the United States declared war. General Philip Sheridan, commander of the U.S. forces, planned his strategy. He was going to divide the army into three different forces that would converge at the junction of the Bighorn and Yellowstone Rivers, where they had found signs of a large Native American village. What they did not know was how large this village was. Native American Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse had joined their tribes together and Sitting Bull had called for more tribes to join theirs. Even Native Americans living on reservations were invited to join them. The American Army was expecting about 1,000 Native Americans, but there were about 12,000. The first Americans to meet the Native Americans were General Crook's force in the late spring of 1876. He clashed with the Sioux in the Battle of Rosebud. The fight was long and hard and ended in a draw. General Crook then retreated to the Bighorn Mountains without sending a scout to warn the other troops about the number of Native Americans or that he had retired from the battle. General Custer was a part of one of the forces and he and his regiment went ahead. When he was discovered by one of the Sioux, he ordered his regiment to attack. Custer was overwhelmed by the number of Native Americans and he and his whole regiment died on what is now known as Custer Hill. The other force barely escaped and suffered casualties as well. In the end, the Battle of Little Bighorn was a disaster for the United States.

When the American public heard of the "slaughter" of Custer and his troops, their main reaction was disbelief and outrage. Custer had been a celebrity to them. He had been the great boy general during the Civil War who liked to play tricks on his fellow generals. One time when he was fighting against a friend from military school, he captured his friend's supply train and showed up the next day wearing the friend's confederate uniform. Custer even sent a note to him about the uniform being too big. Custer was so popular during the war that he was singled out to accept General Robert E. Lee's white flag of surrender. After the Civil War he had less success, but he still won a few major battles against the Native Americans and never strayed too far from the public's eye. To America he was a great boy hero and when he died it was a huge blow to the morale of the country. They could not believe that such a great commander could be killed by a bunch of savages and all anyone could think of was revenge. For the Americans the best way of accomplishing this was extermination of the Native Americans. Immediately after Custer's death, General Crook and General Terry brought together nearly 4,000 soldiers to slaughter and relocate the rest of the Native Americans. Their mission was a failure, but subsequent missions accomplished that goal.

The U.S. Government had been trying to get the Nez Perce, who did not even participate in the Battle of Little Bighorn, to move to the Lapwai Reservation. Now they could use Custer's revenge as an excuse to move them with force. The Nez Perce did not want to be moved from their land in Washington to the Lapwai Reservation in Idaho because this was the land of their ancestors and they did not want to leave their ancestors' graves behind. General Oliver Otis Howard met with the Nez Perce leaders in May of 1877 and after many arguments, became angry and told the Nez Perce they had 30 days to move to the Lapwai Reservation. The Nez Perce began marching to the Lapwai Reservation because they feared what General Howard might do to them, but some of the warriors killed 11 settlers and they were all forced to flee. They decided to flee to Canada where they could be safe. On the way there they were ambushed by U.S. troops twice and both times lost many men, women, and children. Only 40 miles from Canada they were attacked by 600 U.S. soldier and confined as prisoners of war. When they were finally put on the Lapwai Reservation, only 287 of the original 700 Nez Perce were left. A few Nez Perce actually did make it to Canada and joined a band of Cheyenne led by Sitting Bull, but even that band was eventually forced to go to the reservations. The military was able to commit these atrocities because of the nationwide anger toward all Native Americans. Whatever conscience our country had was gone and replaced with hatred for these "monsters" who had slaughtered their favorite general.

The Northern Cheyenne also suffered. After the Battle of Little Bighorn, they were forced by the government to live on the Southern Cheyenne and Southern Arapaho Reservation, instead of the Great Sioux Reservation with their tribesmen. There was not enough food and they were miserable there. Little Wolf and Dull Knife, the leaders of the Northern Cheyenne explained, "Since we have been in this country, we are dying every day. This is not a good country for us and we wish to return to our homes in the mountains." The Northern Cheyenne suffered greatly from lack of food and only survived the first winter by eating their dogs.

On September 10, 1878 two groups of the Northern Cheyenne fled from the Southern Cheyenne and Southern Arapaho Reservation to keep from starving to death. One group was lead by Dull Knife, the other by Little Wolf. Dull Knife's band headed for the Great Sioux Reservation where they thought they would be safe, but once they got there the government ordered them to return. When they refused, the Army surrounded them. The Cheyenne fought for their lives with only the few weapons they had hidden from the soldiers. When the fighting ended, 38 had escaped. These were chased and killed until only 9 were left. Once they were all returned to the Southern Cheyenne and Southern Arapaho