The Role Of Sitting Bull In The Black Hills

In 1874 gold was discovered in the Black Hills. President Grant was forced to make a harsh decision because the Black Hills were located in the Great Sioux Reservation that the Indians had gained under the Treaty of 1868. President Grant allowed miners to enter the Black Hills and insisted that this act would be legalized. Government attempted to acquire the Black Hills where the gold was located however Sitting Bull was against the sale of the land. The Great War of Sioux 1876 resulted from a disagreement between miners and Indians. Miners had already began to come to the Black Hills to mine for goal and the government allowed these things to happen. Because Sitting Bull and his army men were not sure of what would happened when the white men entered they were forced to attack in fear. “They had not interfered with the gold rush, and although they had not signed the Treaty of 1868, in sanctioned their residence in the unceded territory.”(Utley pg34). Sitting Bull gave orders to his young soldiers to harass whites at

Black gold or otherwise known as petroleum, was a great impact and change to certain places and created a new source of fuel for rapid trading and industrialization. It changed the face of Texas after the Texas oil boom had occurred in 1901. Saudi Arabia is probably one of the first things that you think of when you think of oil and their discovery of oil would change Middle eastern trading forever. Another important part of the oil history is Edwin Drake and the first oil well in America. Oil was in extreme abundance that it came down to 3 cents a barrel. Petroleum has grown around the world and impacted us in a big way with traveling easily and trading with others.

It is well known that industrialization in America started in the east. However, the gold rush was the reason why California industrialized much faster than the east. With the technological improvements, that the gold rush demands it helped California industrialize much faster. James Marshall first discovered gold on January 24 1848 on the south fork of the American river. A not so well know part of California history is that James Marshall was not the first person to discover gold in California. Francisco Lopez was the first documented gold rush in California. It is less know because right after Lopez had discovered gold the war between Mexico and US had begun. Moreover, like everyone knows Mexico lost and lost California and other territory to the US. After James Marshall had found gold and after everyone had started to hear the news, few people started rushing to the minefields. The gold rush fever had not started yet because many people were hesitant. It wasn’t until president, President Polk at that time, confirmed that there really was gold found in California after the announcement by Polk was heard. Massive amount of people from all over the world rushed to California. States were not the first to hear about the news. Actually, people in Hawaii were the first to find out. As trading ships were leaving the San Francisco port on their trips across the pacific. Was when the Hawaii found out about the news? When the states

In the late 1800’s, a lot of change was being brought upon the United States, especially on the west of America. New things were established and found in west states, such as Nevada and California. Many of these new establishments helped freed slaves find living as the gold mines were a huge ideal to foreigners traveling from the south and midwest. The Gold Rush was found in Sierra Nevada during 1848, when gold was found in a mine. This completely changed the popularity and population of California. Although, for many people who wanted to travel to mine for gold during the Gold Rush, it was a tough journey as there was no true railroad nor steamboats yet to be taken to the west. With the rise of exposure for the Chinese population in San Francisco,

Around the 1960s Sitting Bull was named chief and around that time gold was found in the on the Sioux land area called the black the Black Hills. The government found out about his gold and they wanted to buy the the land to land for the gold. The Sioux did not want to sell their land, this caused the government to send out soldiers and fight for the land.

Many people risked their lives in order to seek riches and gold, only to find challenges along the way.

The California Gold Rush was not as good as people thought. It was very rough on people's bodies. Being there in the mines hurt their health. Some people even died. Some challenges in the California Gold Rush individuals face were giving up many things at home, rough traveling, and issues while in California.

During this time Sitting Bull formed his resolve to keep his people away from the white man’s world and never signed a treaty that would force them to live on a reservation. He was a part of many societies and groups that showed leadership, the Kit Fox Warrior Society and the legendary Midnight Strong Hearts Society among others as well.

It was either jackpot or broke. The gold seekers were soon to find out. The California gold rush was the third recorded gold rush in the United States. The journey was not easy for anyone. People going to California faced many challenges, some were how tough the journey to California was, how high the crime rate was, and how some made lots of money during the gold rush and others did not.

The government wanted the land for mining, but hey could have gone about it in a better way than opening fire on a group of innocent people. They might have seen this to be the easiest response, but the easiest solutions aren’t always the correct path to take. They could have made a deal with the Indians to use their land, while they still lived on it, or for a small cut of the profits. This leaves less money for the government and big mining firms, but there would have been no causalities and the relationship between the Natives and the United States government and citizens would have been greatly

We are fortunate enough to see and discover what the gold rush was like as a result of Samuel Thomas Gills lifelike drawings. He showed us how the human race acted, and what life was like in Ballarat during the 1850s. Without his images, we wouldn’t have much footage on the stockade and events leading to it and from it.

- At school the kids had to sit up straight and used to use ink to write. Also if a kid did

In early 1848, cries of gold findings flooded the West. White settlers flooded the area like a hurricane in search of riches never seen before to the common man. It was the single greatest migration of people in a shortest amount of time. The gold rush was a very dark period in American history and it shouldn’t be celebrated; the Native American’s were slaughtered in American thirst for gold Explosions of violence from both natives and settlers were common in this environment of prejudice and greed. Between 1850 and 1890 eighty percent of the total number of Native Americans in California died due to murder and massacre, disease, starvation, and forced migration from their native lands. The destruction of the culture and lives of the people native to California and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Greed changed the morals and values of the miners and Americans alike in the Gold Rush. The gold rush brought riches and highlighted racism of white Americans, while systematically destroying Native Americans in that region.

Starting in 1863, 6 years after Sitting Bull became war chief, the United States military began to invade Lakota territory. The reason for the invasion was retaliation for the Santee Rebellion, which occurred in Minnesota, however Sitting Bull’s people had no involvement. Sitting Bull fought against this first wave of invaders, only to have to fight them again a year later in the Battle of Killdeer Mountain. After another year had passed, Sitting Bulls decided to lay siege to Fort Rice that had recently been constructed in what is now modern day North Dakota. In response to these act of bravery, Sitting Bull was made principal chief of the entire Lakota Sioux nation in 1868, eleven years after becoming the war chief. In that same year, a peace conference occurred in order to get the Fort Laramie Treaty signed.

I will discuss how the Gold Rush, more than any other single event, impacted the social, economic, and political nature of the West Coast and the United States. I will break down the social, economic, and political ramifications of the Gold Rush on (a) the region, and (b) the United States as a whole.