Wyoming Western Trails Project - Annals of Wyoming - Prelude to the Black Hills Gold Rush of 1876

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Prelude to the Black Hills Gold Rush of 1876

Annals of Wyoming 54:1:36-50
By Scott Tubbs
PHOTO: The enormous size of the Custer Expedition is indicated in this photo of the camp at Hiddenwood Creek - South Dakota State Historical Society

PHOTO: The enormous size of the Custer Expedition is indicated in this photo of the camp at Hiddenwood Creek - South Dakota State Historical Society

The Black Hills was the most cherished part of the Great Sioux Reservation, established by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Explorers first visited the Hills in 1742 when the Verendrye brothers touched the northeastern edge of the Black Hills. In 1874 Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer commanded an expedition to the hills that was "peaceable and exclusively in the interest of science."
PHOTO: Deadwood South Dakota, the rolliking boom town that owed its existence to the exploratory expeditions of the mid 1870's - Nebraska State Historical Society

PHOTO: Deadwood South Dakota, the rolliking boom town that owed its existence to the exploratory expeditions of the mid 1870's - Nebraska State Historical Society

Later in 1874 the Gordon expedition furthered the findings of gold in the Black Hills. The Newton-Jenny Expedition of 1875 was authorized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs "for the purpose of ascertaining the extent and value of the gold deposits." Although Jenney "did not speak highly of the Black Hills as a source of gold," miners and others swarmed the Hills. The 1876 treaty at Red Cloud Agency gave miners clear title to the land.

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