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1875 - Pinker ton agents fire-bomb the
James family farm in Missouri in an unsuccessful attempt to kill the notorious
outlaws. The incident stirs widespread sympathy for the James Gang, who
are seen as populist enemies of the banks and railroads who "rob" the common
man. ( Jesse James was shot in the back by Robert Ford in 1882)
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1875 - Deadwood, soon to be one
of the wildest towns in the West, springs into existence when Black Hills
miners find gold on Deadwood Creek. Within a year, the legendary gunfighter
"Wild Bill" Hickock will be murdered here while holding aces and eights
-- the dead man's hand -- in a game of poker.
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1875 - THE LAKOTA WAR -A Senate commission
meeting with Red Cloud and other Lakota chiefs to negotiate legal access
for the miners rushing to the Black Hills offers to buy the region for
$6 million. But the Lakota refuse to alter the terms of the 1868 Fort Laramie
Treaty, and declare they will protect their lands from intruders if the
government won't.
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1876 - Federal authorities order
the Lakota chiefs to report to their reservations by January 31. Sitting
Bull, Crazy Horse and others defiant of the American government refuse.
General Philip Sheridan orders General George Crook, General Alfred Terry
and Colonel John Gibbon to drive Sitting Bull and the other chiefs onto
the reservation through a combined assault. On June 17, Crazy Horse and
500 warriors surprise General Crook's troops on the Rosebud River, forcing
them to retreat. On June 25, George Armstrong Custer, part of General Terry's
force, discovers Sitting Bull's encampment on the Little Bighorn River.
Terry had ordered Custer to drive the enemy down the Little Bighorn toward
Gibbon's forces, who were waiting at its mouth, but when he charges the
village Custer discovers that he is outnumbered four-to-one. Hundreds of
Lakota warriors overwhelm his troops, killing them to the last man, in
a battle later called Custer's Last Stand. News of the massacre shocks
the nation, and Sheridan floods the region with troops who methodically
hunt down the Lakota and force them to surrender. Sitting Bull, however,
eludes capture by leading his band to safety in Canada.
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