As Long as the Grass Grows · Episode 9 of 15 · 36 min
Why the Sioux Refuse Over a Billion Dollars
The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty guaranteed the Black Hills to the Sioux for absolute and undisturbed use and required three-fourths of adult men to approve any sale. After gold was found, the government took the land without those signatures. In 1980 the Supreme Court ordered payment, which has grown past a billion dollars and which the Sioux refuse, because taking it would mean selling sacred land.
Who's who
- Red Cloud+1 more episodeOglala Lakota leader whose war forced the Army out of the Powder River forts
- Spotted TailBrule Lakota leader and negotiator of the 1868 settlement
- Sitting Bull+1 more episodeHunkpapa Lakota leader central to the resistance at Little Bighorn
- Crazy HorseOglala war leader who helped defeat Custer
- George Armstrong Custer+1 more episodeLed the 1874 Black Hills expedition that confirmed gold
- George W. ManypennyHeaded the 1876 commission with the sell-or-starve agreement
- Ulysses S. Grant+8 more episodesPresident who decided the Army would stop resisting miners
- Harry Blackmun+2 more episodesJustice who wrote the 1980 Sioux Nation majority
Where it happens
- Black Hills, South Dakota+4 more episodesPaha Sapa, sacred land guaranteed by the 1868 treaty
- Little Bighorn, MontanaSite of the 1876 defeat of Custer
- Standing Rock, North Dakota and South DakotaPipeline opposition in 2016 cited the Fort Laramie treaties
Timeline
- April 29, 1868The Treaty of Fort Laramie establishes the Great Sioux Reservation and the three-fourths rule
- Summer 1874Custer's expedition confirms gold in the Black Hills
- June 25-26, 1876Sitting Bull's and Crazy Horse's forces destroy Custer's command at Little Bighorn
- February 28, 1877Congress enacts the agreement removing the Black Hills from the reservation
- June 30, 1980United States v. Sioux Nation affirms $17.1 million plus interest for the taking
Still debated
The famous line about ripe and rank dishonorable dealings came from the Court of Claims in 1975, which the Supreme Court quoted. The fund is reported variously as over $1 billion to near $1.8 billion, and Rehnquist's dissent held that rations had provided real value.
← PreviousHow Bureaucracy and Gold Broke the Great Plains TreatiesNext →The Presidents Who Inherited Andrew Jackson's Playbook
Connected episodes in other series
Whose Mother Lode: The Treaties Gold BrokeFree and Open: The 1872 Mining Law · Episode 8Also features George Armstrong Custer
Furman to GreggTo Die or Not to Die · Episode 6Also features Harry Blackmun
The Eastern Ghost: The Lesson the West IgnoredRivers Reborn · Episode 8Also features Ulysses S. Grant
The Forecast and the FishStorm Warning: America's Earth Science · Episode 1Also features Ulysses S. Grant