Sitting Bull Surrenders

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 acknowledged that the Black Hills belonged to the Lakota people and promised the area would be off limits to settlers, but gold was discovered there and prospectors poured into the Black Hills. Tensions mounted and eventually led to the defeat of Lieutenant Colonel George Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The United States then ordered all Native Americans onto reservations. To escape capture, Sitting Bull led his band into Canada, where they remained for several years. As buffalo became scarce, his people suffered from cold and hunger. On July 19, 1881, Sitting Bull and his people returned to the United States and surrendered, after which they were sent to Fort Randall as prisoners. In 1883 they were allowed to move to the Standing Rock Reservation.

South Dakota · United States