Dreams of a Kitten by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Dreams of a Kitten

Page 389

ridiculously insisted later that his retreat was actually a

charge.

“I’ve Lost Half My Men!”

Most battles in the Great Sioux War, including the Battle of the

Little Bighorn, were on lands those natives had taken from other

tribes since 1851. The Lakotas were there without consent from

the local Crow tribe, which had a treaty on the area. Already in

1873, Crow chief Blackfoot had called for US military actions

against the native intruders. The steady Lakota incursions into

treaty areas belonging to the smaller tribes were a direct

result of their displacement by the United States in and around

Fort Laramie, as well as in reaction to white encroachment into

the Black Hills, which the Lakota consider sacred. This pre-

existing Indian conflict provided a useful wedge for

colonization, and ensured the United States a firm Indian

alliance with the Arikaras and the Crows during the Lakota Wars.

The fight was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern

Cheyenne, and Arapaho, who were led by several major war

leaders, including Crazy Horse and Chief Gall, and had been

inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull - Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake. The

US 7th Cavalry, a force of 700 men, commanded by Lieutenant

Colonel George Armstrong Custer, a brevetted major general