Like the Sioux, with whom they often allied, the Cheyenne were horsemen and buffalo-hunters who obtained most of their physical needs from the shaggy bison.
The Indian Problem .
Early relationships between the European traders and the Indians were amicable, but as the tide of emigrants swelled, resentments and friction began to emerge. In an effort to end the hostilities, a council attended by representatives of the United States and more than 10,000 Native Americans was called at Fort Laramie, and that day, the Treaty of 1851 was signed, thus halting the fights by offering the natives $50,000 of annuities per year. Needless to say, the Treaty was not effective. The Native Americans resented the constant intrusions of the white settlers and soon the high plains were aflame with conflict an soon after, the American Army was brought in. New forts were built to protect the settlers from constant ambushes and assaults brought on by the Natives. Gold was eventually discovered in the Black Hills and miners immediately flocked to the site. The sudden migration infuriated the Sioux, seeing as the Black Hills are a sacred land, thus triggering assaults led by two of the greatest Indian warriors history has ever seen; Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull.
"Crazy Horse" .
Originally born Tasunka Witho, of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe in the 1840's, Crazy Horse was immediately recognized as a born warrior and charismatic leader. An imposing man of six feet and two inches, he earned a reputation as a visionary and a staunch defender of the Lakota way of life. Crazy Horse led the resistance against the United States War Department after it ordered all Lakota bands onto reservations. He was a fearless fighter, often claiming that he could not be killed by the "white man's bullet." He was a superstitious man, never posing for photographs, instead questioning, "Why would you wish to shorten my life by taking my shadow from me?" He married a Cheyenne woman, who happened to be the daughter of the famous Chief Red Cloud, and through this bond he was able to rally more than 1200 warriors of the Oglala and Cheyenne Sioux against the US army.
