The surrender of important leaders such as Chief Joseph and Quanah Parker was publicized throughout the United States. However, two leaders remained elusive: Sitting Bull of the Hunkpapa Lakota and Geronimo of the Chiricahua Apache.
Sitting Bull, also known as Tatanka-Iyotanka, was a legendary chief and holy man whose courage inspired his people. Once, during a battle, he led four warriors out to the middle of a battleground. As they sat and shared a pipe, bullets whizzed by them. Yet they remained unharmed.
Sitting Bull is best known for his role in the Battle of Little Big Horn. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874, the white people decided to forget all about the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which stated that this was Lakota land. When the Lakota refused to part with the land to which they felt a spiritual connection, Congress passed a law stating that no more treaties would be made with the Native American people. Furthermore, the government stated that all Lakota not residing on a reservation by 1876 would be treated as hostile.
As the army prepared for attack in the summer of 1876, Sitting Bull called upon the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho to fight together against the soldiers. While participating in the Sun Dance ritual. Sitting Bull had a vision of soldiers falling “like grasshoppers falling from the sky.”
World History
