Former Lakota war chief helped his people assimilate to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation Did You Know That columnist Curt Eriksmoen concludes the story of Gall, a prominent figure in Dakota Territory, and his role in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Written By: Curt Eriksmoen | ×
Gall as photographed by David Francis Barry in the 1880s. Public Domain / Special to The Forum
By 1873, the Northern Pacific Railroad (NPRR) had reached Bismarck, with the objective of extending its line to the Pacific Coast in the next few years. However, Bismarck was as far as the trains would go for the next six years. The reasons given for that are largely the obstacle of building a bridge across the Missouri River and the financial collapse of the railroad, which triggered the national Panic of 1873.
Curt Eriksmoen continues the story of Gall in today s Did You Know That column. Written By: Curt Eriksmoen | ×
Gall as photographed in 1881 by David Francis Barry at Fort Buford, N.D. Public Domain / Special to The Forum
Up until 1863, relations between white people and the Lakota Indians, in what is now western North Dakota, were very good. Almost all of the Lakota interactions involving white people were with traders, trappers and occasional explorers or artists.
The only incident to be called a battle occurred in mid-July 1851, southeast of present-day Minot, and it was called the Battle of Grand Coteau. In the two-day standoff, one Metis hunter from southern Manitoba and an estimated 15 to 80 Yanktonai Lakota were killed.
True West Magazine
The Sioux chief Sitting Bull was arguably the greatest Indian chief of all the tribes in the American West in the 19th century. In the decades since his death, his name has become known to most Americans and treasured by many as the supreme embodiment of Sioux values. He lived from 1831 to 1890. – D.F. Barry, Courtesy Library of Congress –
The Sioux Leader’s Final Flight to Freedom
Sunday, June 25, 1876, was a clear, hot, sunny day in the valley of Montana’s Greasy Grass River, which the white man’s maps labeled the Little Bighorn. Six tribal circles of Lakotas and one of Northern Cheyennes, the coalition of winter roamers, sprawled for nearly three miles down the narrow valley, rimmed on the east by the snow-fed river. The Hunkpapas occupied the extreme upper end of the village, the Cheyennes the lower. In between rose the lodges of Blackfeet, Miniconjou, Sans Arc, Oglala and Brule. It was an unusually large village: 7,000 people, 2,000 warriors, hous