<P> European Americans increasingly encroached on Lakota territory . After defeating the Lakota Sioux, the United States government made peace under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, establishing the Great Sioux Reservation west of the Missouri River and acknowledging their control of the Teton range . In this treaty, they protected the Black Hills "forever" from European - American settlement . Both the Sioux and Cheyenne also claimed rights to the land, saying that in their cultures, it was considered the axis mundi, or sacred center of the world . </P> <P> Although rumors of gold in the Black Hills had circulated for decades (see Thoen Stone and Pierre - Jean De Smet), it was not until 1874 that Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer of the 7th US Cavalry led an expedition there and discovered gold in French Creek . An official announcement of gold was made by the newspaper reporters accompanying the expedition . The following year, the Newton - Jenney Party conducted the first detailed survey of the Black Hills . The surveyor for the party, Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy, was the first European American to ascend to the top of Black Elk Peak . This highest point in the Black Hills is 7,242 feet above sea level . </P> <P> During the 1875--1878 gold rush, thousands of miners went to the Black Hills; in 1880, the area was the most densely populated part of the Dakota Territory . Three large towns developed in the Northern Hills: Deadwood, Central City, and Lead . Around these were groups of smaller gold camps, towns, and villages . Hill City and Custer City sprang up in the Southern Hills . Railroads were quickly constructed to the previously remote area . From 1880 on, the gold mines yielded about $4,000,000 annually, and the silver mines about $3,000,000 annually . </P> <P> The conflict over control of the region sparked the Black Hills War (1876), also known as the Great Sioux War, the last major Indian War on the Great Plains . Following the defeat of the Lakota and their Cheyenne and Arapaho allies in 1876, the United States took control of the Black Hills and another strip of land, in violation of the Treaty of Fort Laramie . The Lakota never accepted the validity of the US appropriation in 1877 . They have continued to try to reclaim the property and filed a suit against the federal government . </P>

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