Template:BlackHillsGoldRush

Gold was first discovered in the Black Hills of present-day South Dakota on 2 Aug 1874, by two civilians with Lt. Colonel George A. Custer's 1874 cavalry expedition. Meager amounts of gold were found along French Creek in the portion of the Black Hills that was then on the Great Sioux Indian Reservation. Custer's expedition was allowed on this reservation by the 1868 Fort Laramie treaty but that treaty prohibited any settlers or miners on the Sioux Reservation. Custer's task was to map the Great Sioux Reservation and to select a fort site to protect the 26 million square mile area. Custer also was to confirm reports of gold in the area if he could. The Custer expedition was a massive undertaking with over 1000 men, 1900 horses, and 50 Indian scouts.

Reports of the French Creek gold discovery quickly spread and were greatly exaggerated by newspaper accounts of vast riches in the Black Hills. Immediately companies of men formed to enter the Black Hills to stake claims before all the best spots were gone. Because all of this activity was illegal, Custer's men soon became engaged in removing the companies of men as they found them and the Sioux began killing as many as they could. The companies of miners responded by building their quarters in stockaded compounds to protect themselves and their claims. These stockades were generally named after the elected leader of the company. Many of these stockades formed the basis for present-day towns like Sturges and Spearfish. The illegal population soared to some 12,000, well beyond the ability of the military or the Sioux to manage and Congress acted in 1877 to remove the Black Hills from the Sioux Reservation.