The Question of Land and Treaties, 2
The year before, General Custer underwent his noteworthy defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn against Sioux and Cheyenne warbands in open protest against the violation of the terms of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. Public outrage at Custer's defeat coupled with continued pressure by prospectors to gain access to the lands of the Sioux changed the tone of the relationship between the federal government and the Sioux.
In 1877 a commission was sent to the Sioux, headed up by George Manypenny, and was termed the Manypenny Commission. This time, instead of attempting to negotiate, the Sioux were strongarmed into signing a new agreement forefeiting the bulk of their lands. The agreement violated the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty in that the Manypenny Commission did not receive the 3/4ths tribal approval vote as required under the 1868 treaty. They also surrounded the Indian Agency outposts with guns and troops, they did not provide written translation or even complete oral translation of the agreement that everyone was being 'asked' to sign, and they offered bribes of up to $20 in several instances just to get various reluctant Sioux to pick up the pen with which they would sign the new agreement. If they did not sign, the Commission threatened to stop all rations and provisions payouts in a policy called "Sell or Starve". (Lazarus, 92) Under this forced new agreement, the Sioux forefeited their land rights to the vast majority of the Black Hills, including the land where Mount Rushmore stands today.
In light of the history of the region, the question of land ownership becomes very difficult to
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