H>'rueAM F.RINf)]ANS·L A S '"S"ANDCriJ//'T'Sl A stSI,md.
d riveth e Am erind ian sonto"reser vati ons."T hese
reservation swereareasoflandthat w ereusu allyso
dry or ro cky th atrhc govern me nt thou ght w h ite
settlerswe re neverlikely towant them.
T heAmerindians fo ug htback.O neofth eirbest
knownlead erswas Sitt in g Bu ll o f the Siou x ." We
livedinomcount ry in th e wayourfathersandour
fathers'fath ers li ved before us andw e soug httrouble
with no m en, " he said later. "Bu t thesold iers carne
intoourcountry and fireduponus and we fought
back. Is itsobadtofig htin de fenseo fone'sco u ntry
andlo vedOIlCS?"
T heAm er in d ians wer eo u tnum beredand
outgunned.Bur theyin flictedso mesu r prisi ng
defeatsonthe Am eri can sold iers. 111 eywon their
best knownviceorvat th e Bartleofth e Littl eBig
Ho rnin j u ne 187 6 ,a ll a hillbesidethe Little Big
Ho rnRiver3,000SiouxandC heyen ne war riorsled
byC razyIlo rse surrou ndedan dkilledall 225 menof
a com panyofUniredSUtCScavalry,The dead
includedthecavalrymen'scommander, General
Geo rge Armstron gC uster. For thisreasonth e battle
is sometimescalled"Custe r'sLas t Stand."
The Battleo f t heLittleBig I l o rnwasalsoth e last
standfor theAm erindians.The American
governmentand people w ere ang ryat th e defeatof
th eir soldier s.T hey felt that th eyhadbeen
h umiliated.M o r e so ldiers we re sent wes t to hunt
downCuster 'sk illers.The Sio u x wer e to o w eakto
fightback, With the bu ffalo gOlle, mor eofthe ir
peoplew eredying t'v ery d ayo f sta rvatio nand
disease.The Sio u xsu rre nderedand the soldiers
march edth emaw ayto th e res er vatio ns.
OtherAmerindi an sw ere n o m o re fortuna te than th e
Sioux. By 1890 m o stofth e American West , fro mthe
Mississippi Riv erto th e PacificO cean ,w aso ccupied
b y canleran chers, farmers, or millers .The
Am eri ndi ans had not hin gleftexceptthe
reservatio ns.
The Un itedScaresgovernmentsaid thatitwould
h elpand protec t th e reservati o nAmerindians.It67