449. Custer vs. Crazy Horse: Rise of Sitting Bull (Part 4)

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode traces Sitting Bull’s rise from Lakota warrior and holy man to a symbol of resistance against U.S. expansion. It contrasts Native mobility and sovereignty with railroad-driven settler encroachment, explains the Fetterman fight and treaty politics, and ends with Custer’s approach to the Yellowstone, setting up the Little Bighorn story.

Main Topics: Sitting Bull’s identity and authority (Priority: 5/5): The hosts introduce Sitting Bull as a charismatic, traditional Lakota leader whose influence rests on ancestry, warrior prestige, and spiritual power rather than formal state structures. Lakota resistance to U.S. expansion (Priority: 5/5): They frame the conflict as a struggle over land, mobility, and self-determination as white settlement, trails, forts, and railroads pressure the Plains. The Fetterman Fight and its consequences (Priority: 4/5): The ambush and destruction of Captain Fetterman’s force is presented as a major Lakota victory that reshapes American perceptions and policy, though it does not trigger the same public reaction as Little Bighorn. Imperial comparisons and American attitudes (Priority: 4/5): The discussion repeatedly compares the Plains conflict to British imperial warfare, emphasizing the mix of racism, admiration, pity, and strategic pragmatism in U.S. responses. Religion, visions, and the Sundance (Priority: 5/5): Sitting Bull’s holiness is explored through Lakota spiritual practice, especially the Sundance, visions, and sacrifice, which legitimize leadership and military confidence. Treaty-making, reservations, and internal divisions (Priority: 5/5): The hosts explain the Great Sioux Reservation settlement, Red Cloud’s diplomacy, and the split between those willing to adapt and those, like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, who reject confinement. Custer enters the story (Priority: 4/5): The episode closes by bringing George Armstrong Custer to the Yellowstone survey expedition, signaling the next phase of confrontation.

Key Arguments: Sitting Bull’s authority comes from a combination of lineage, warrior achievement, and spiritual legitimacy, not from a centralized political office. The Lakota conflict with the United States is fundamentally about defending homeland and autonomy against an imperial-style expansion. The Fetterman Fight mattered because it elevated Crazy Horse and made the Lakota seem more formidable, but it did not produce the same national shock as Little Bighorn because of timing and the status of the defeated commander. American policy toward Native peoples was not uniformly exterminationist; it also included sympathy, criticism of settlers, and attempts at treaty-based accommodation, even if these were inconsistent and often broken. Darwinian and social-Darwinist ideas helped many Americans rationalize conquest as natural, even when they felt moral discomfort about it. The Sundance and related rituals are presented as central to Lakota leadership because they produce visions, endurance, and public proof of spiritual power. Sitting Bull’s refusal to accept reservation life made him a focal point for younger warriors and a symbol of uncompromising resistance.

Data Points: Year of Creelman interview: 1882 - Sitting Bull’s quoted statement is introduced as an interview with Canadian journalist James Creelman six years after Little Bighorn. Years after Little Bighorn: 6 - The interview with Sitting Bull is dated six years after the 1876 battle. Fetterman force size: about 80 soldiers - Captain William Fetterman’s detachment is described as roughly 80 men from Fort Kearney. American fatalities at Fetterman Fight: 81 - The hosts say every American in the ambushed force was killed. Treaty year: 1868 - The peace commission and Great Sioux Reservation settlement are discussed in relation to the treaty signed after the Fetterman era. Reservation geography: most of modern-day South Dakota west of the Missouri - The Great Sioux Reservation is described as covering a vast area promised to the Lakota. Survey expedition year: 1872 - A Northern Pacific survey party is sent through Lakota lands and is turned back by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Sitting Bull’s approximate birth year: 1831 - The hosts say he was probably born in 1831. Age at first coup: 14 - Sitting Bull’s first coup is described as occurring when he was 14 years old. Age during Crow-chieftain duel: 25 - The sung duel with a Crow chief is dated to 1856, when Sitting Bull is said to be 25. Flesh offerings in Sundance: 50 pieces from each arm - The hosts describe Sitting Bull having 50 small pieces of flesh removed from each arm as part of a ritual offering.

Pivotal Quotes: "This land belongs to us, for the Great Spirit gave it to us when he put us here." — Sitting Bull (as quoted by James Creelman): Opening quotation used to frame Lakota claims to land and sovereignty. "We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women, and children." — General William T. Sherman: Cited as an example of the harsh retaliatory mood after the Fetterman Fight. "You are fools to make yourself slaves to a piece of fat bacon, some hard tack and a little sugar and coffee." — Sitting Bull: His rejection of reservation life and dependence on federal rations.

Implications: The episode sets up Little Bighorn as the product of long-running imperial pressure, spiritual leadership, and treaty failure. Listeners are left with a clearer sense that Native resistance was strategic, political, and culturally grounded—not merely reactive.