All language subtitles for Sitting.Bull.S01E01.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

[stirring monotonal music]

[fire crackling]

[horses neighing]

[hooves thundering]

[warriors cheering]

[thudding blow]

[soldier screams]

[invigorating whooping]

[Clay] Sitting Bull
distinguished himself

as maybe one of the greatest
warriors in North America.

Sitting Bull was
a grassroots leader.

A heroic freedom fighter.

He was a thinker.
He was a visionary.

And he always looked
out for his people.

He would never abandon their
culture and their way of life.

Sitting Bull grew up in a
time that was very prosperous

and powerful for
the Lakota people.

But in one of the great
migrations in American history,

people started
flooding the West.

Sitting Bull said,
"These white people,

they keep coming
and coming and coming."

Sitting Bull
was adamantly opposed

to moving to a reservation.

He said we cannot strike deals.

They are astonishingly greedy

and they are also
unrelentingly violent.

[cannon blasts]

So, we will resist
to the last person.

[whoops]

And this was his destiny.

Sitting Bull becomes
a name known far and wide

in the United States
and even the world.

The government's propping him
up as like a boogie man.

He said, I have done what I
should do to defend my homeland.

In the United States where
freedom is the foundation

of our society,

here is this man who fought
for freedom for his people.

Sitting Bull is a symbol
of Indigenous strength.

He's not some
distant historic figure.

This is a real person

who had a transformative
effect in American history.

[dramatic impactful music]

[Narrator] At the dawn
of the 19th century,

the continent of North America

is about to experience
a massive change.

In the east, the newly formed
United States of America

is eager to
expand its territory.

But in its path lie
hundreds of tribal nations

who've called these lands
home for millennia.

[Edward] White Americans
in the mid-19th century

who were heading into the west
saw themselves

as pioneers, as settlers moving

into what they would
call virgin territory.

Native peoples see it
as an invasion from the east.

[Narrator] As the US begins
its quest for more territory,

settlers displace and decimate
these Indigenous populations.

[fire crackling]

[tense music plays]

And by 1840, the US has settled

as far west
as the Mississippi River.

But beyond that,
a vast stretch of land

remains unaffected
by American expansion,

the Great Plains.

Covering more than
a million square miles

from the western edge of
Iowa to the Rocky Mountains,

the area is home to dozens
of tribal nations.

And it's here that one
of the greatest leaders

the world has
ever known comes of age.

[serene music plays]

The man we now
remember as Sitting Bull

grows up with a different name,

Jumping Badger.

[Shane] One of the best aspects
of Lakota traditions is naming.

And just because
someone has a name

as a child, that doesn't mean it
won't change as they get older,

and it could be any number of
reasons why they get a new name.

Maybe they have
a life experience

that changes the way
they see the world.

Or maybe someone just
gifts them the new name.

[Mark] Jumping Badger had some
interesting traits or qualities

that wasn't necessarily common
with his boyhood friends.

[Courtney]
He examined every outcome.

He didn't do things recklessly.

[moose grunts]

[twig breaks in distance]

[Jumping Badger chuckles]

[majestic music]

[all whooping]

[Narrator] Growing up
alongside Jumping Badger

are his two friends,

the quiet but loyal Crow King,

and the brave
and impulsive Gall.

[Terry] They were all one group.
They all grew up together.

They learned the same things,
they played the same games,

learned how to ride
horse together.

[Jeffery] They are gonna be fast
friends all through their lives.

They had a bond that
was a lifetime bond.

[Narrator] The boys are part
of the Hunkpapa tribe,

one of seven bands that
make up the Lakota Nation.

Since the 18th century,

the Lakota have inhabited
the Northern Plains,

including parts
of modern day Nebraska,

Montana, Wyoming,
and North and South Dakota.

They're a nation 20,000 strong,

of which the Hunkpapa tribe
is a small but important part.

[Megan] Jumping Badger
was born in a time

of great prosperity
for the Lakota people.

They were growing in
population and in power.

They were expanding their
territory during this period.

[narrator] The strength
and success of the Lakota

is built on the foundation

of its relationship
with the buffalo.

[buffalo thundering]

Buffalo herds numbering
in the tens of millions

have roamed North America
since before humans.

[Jeffrey] For the Lakota,

they saw themselves very much
as linked to the bison.

This is the thing that
sustains your entire nation.

[Clay] It was food.
It was shelter. It was fuel.

They used the sinew as
a form of rope or string.

They used
the hooves for glue.

They used the stomachs
for kettles.

They used the hide
for their luggage.

The buffalo embraced
all of this in one creature.

[narrator] As the Lakota
flourish on the Great Plains,

2,000 miles away,

the United States government

is mounting a new effort
to expand west.

By 1845, the US
is less than 100 years old

but its population
has exploded to 17 million.

Now, newly elected president
James K. Polk

wants to gain control
of the rest of the continent,

capitalizing on a new philosophy
sweeping the country

called "Manifest Destiny".

[Elizabeth] Manifest Destiny
holds that European Americans

should expand their territorial
base from coast to coast.

[Edward]
And this is a phrase that says

it is our manifest destiny
to seize the continent

that provenance has provided us.

So, this is not only
a national endeavor,

this is an endeavor that's
blessed by God,

and we must carry this out,
we have no choice.

[narrator]
In his first year in office,

Polk brings Texas
into the Union,

secures possession
of the Oregon Territory,

and prepares for war with Mexico

to seize the vast lands of
the southwest and California.

His actions will open up over
1,000,000 square miles of land

to American settlers.

People started flooding the West

in one of the great migrations
in American history,

and they did it, believing the
Indigenous people

were simply obstacles
to be overcome.

That definitely set the stage
for increased conflict

between tribal nations
and settlers,

as well as
the federal government.

[narrator] But one area
that has been left untouched

by Western settlement
is the Great Plains.

Where Jumping Badger is
developing his connection

to Wakan Tanka,

the Great Spirit
of the universe.

You could say the earth,

the universe, was our church.

And that the acknowledgement
of every living thing,

every inanimate thing
in this universe

are all connected somehow.

[Shane] Jumping Badger had his
first vision

when he was a young man,

where this wolf was wounded,
and it had two arrows in it.

And the wolf spoke to
Jumping Badger and told him

if you take these
two arrows out of me,

you know, you'll be
known throughout nations.

[wolf growls]

And so he did that.

He came, he took those two
arrows out of that wolf,

and the wolf limped off

and he realizes he knows now
what his future will hold.

To be known throughout nations.

[narrator]
Having seen his destiny,

Jumping Badger now devotes
himself to fulfilling it.

To gain respect
in the Lakota community,

young men must prove
their worth as warriors.

Every Lakota boy
was raised to be a warrior.

One Lakota father said,

"I don't want you
to grow up to be an old man.

I want you to die in battle.
That's the way a Lakota dies."

So, that's how they were
instructed from childhood.

[narrator]
In 1845,

most young Lakota will get
their first taste of battle

against their rivals, the Crow.

[William]
In the early 19th century,

there were a lot of skirmishes
between the Lakota and the Crow,

and a lot of this had to
do with kind of competition

over bison hunting grounds.

[Bill] The Crow
were outstanding warriors,

who was a very worthy opponent.

To fight against the Crow
was a badge of honor.

[slow rhythmic drumming]

[drumming quickens]

[drumming slows]

[Crow member snoring]

[tense music crescendos]

[narrator] At the age of 14,

Jumping Badger performs
an act of bravery

known as counting coup.

Counting coup is a war deed
where one warrior

touches another one
with their stick

without actually
harming or killing them.

To be able to connect
with that opponent

and not be injured yourself,
but to really shame them,

that really is like the height
of prowess for a warrior.

[narrator] To commemorate
his courageous feat,

tribal leaders
present Jumping Badger

with a single white feather.

He's also given a new name,

the name of his father,

Sitting Bull.

[whooping]

[Jeffrey] Receiving his father's
name was a tremendous honor.

This is not something
that's universally done

within the Lakota Nation.

He's saying you're my equal.

[narrator]
Now marked for greatness,

the young warrior
lives up to his promise,

growing into a force
on the battlefield

and fighting for control of
prime hunting grounds

against the rival Crow.

[Bill] The Lakota were fierce.

They were the predators
of the Northern Plains.

And it wasn't
ritualistic fighting.

It was all-out fighting.

[shouting]

[thudding blows]

[tomahawks swishing]

[narrator] But while
the Lakota's power is growing,

a new threat is
making its way west.

One far greater than
the Lakota have ever known,

and that could jeopardize
their very existence.

[bird squawks]

On the Great Plains
of North America,

30 year old Sitting Bull

has emerged as
a force on the battlefield.

As he and his Hunkpapa warriors

clash with their fierce rivals,

the Crow,

for control of buffalo
hunting grounds.

[grunting]

At his side are
childhood friends Crow King.

[warrior grunts]

A fiercely loyal
and level-headed warrior.

And Gall.

[warrior grunts]

Who displays an intensity in war

that inspires fear
in all his enemies.

[Bill] All three were seen
as very successful warriors

and the only way you survive

multiple hunts and war parties

is to be excellent at your
craft.

You had to lead by example.

You had to be out in front.

[dramatic tense music builds]

[guns firing]

[narrator] One of
the most effective tactics

Sitting Bull employs
against the Crow

is a daring strategy

known as riding the brave line.

[William] Riding the brave line
was an act of bravery

on the battlefield,

and it was also a strategic move

in order to kind of
have the enemy

kind of give away
its position.

[arrows swish]

[warrior grunts]

For Lakotas, they might
receive eagle feathers

for acts of bravery
done in battle.

Sitting Bull
earned many of these,

and yet because Sitting Bull
demonstrated his humility,

he only wore one white feather
over the course of his life.

[narrator] By 1861,

Sitting Bull's skills on
the battlefield elevate him

to the position of war leader
in his Hunkpapa tribe.

[Jeffery] To be the overall
leader for the Hunkpapa

is a tremendous honor.

They are going to look to him
for military leadership

in all aspects.

That means he's
going to plan raids

and any attack on other
Native nations.

[narrator] It's now Sitting
Bull's responsibility

to defend his people
against any adversaries.

But as he assumes his new role,

a conflict is breaking out
over 1,000 miles to the east

that threatens everything
the Lakota leader

has sworn to protect.

[cannon blasts]

[soldiers grunting]

[Christy] At the start
of the American Civil War,

the United States certainly
expected it to be

a short lived affair.

But it is increasingly
a bloody war.

By the fall of 1862,

about 300,000 men,

North and South,
are already dead.

[narrator] With losses mounting

and the possibility of a
Confederate victory growing,

President Abraham Lincoln

realizes the key
to winning the war

between North and South

might hinge on
who controls the West.

[Douglas] Lincoln was
a unifier, not a divider.

But the battles Lincoln faced
weren't just North versus South,

but what happens in the West.

And would these be free
states or slave states?

He has to make sure the West

stays fully in the Union camp.

[narrator] To ensure the land
is under his control,

Lincoln needs Northerners
to settle the West.

So, in 1862 he signs
the Homestead Act,

granting 160 acres
of western land

to any loyal American
willing to occupy it.

[Edward] It's an astonishing
amount of land

for an individual to acquire,

and in all, the Homestead Act
will give away

600 million acres of land.

[narrator] But as the government
encourages settlers to move in,

another group will
inevitably be pushed out.

[Elizabeth] All of that
land was contextualized

as untouched land, virgin land,
land that was not occupied.

Obviously, this idea

totally overlooked

the Indigenous People
of this land.

[narrator] As northerners
began heading west

by the hundreds of thousands,
conflict erupts.

One area that's overrun with
settlers is Minnesota,

home to the Dakota Nation.

A people with close
ties to the Lakota.

Along with the Nakota,
the Lakota and Dakota

make up a powerful alliance
called the Oceti Sakowin,

the "Seven Council Fires".

Known to European
settlers as the Sioux.

[William] Each spoke the same
kind of Siouan language,

but they had slightly
different dialects.

They were allies,
even though they may have been

separated by a good distance.

[narrator] Because the Dakota
lived furthest east,

they'd been dealing
with America's westward

expansion for decades.

[William] The process by which
Dakotas become pushed

out of their homelands
begins in the mid-1800s

with the Treaty of Mendota.

In this treaty, Dakotas ceded

close to 30 million acres
of land to the United States

in exchange for rations
and other annuities.

[narrator] The promised supplies
are to be distributed

on small, government
run plots of land,

called reservations.

[Elizabeth] Reservations became
spaces of confinement.

And in many cases,
including the Dakota,

forced confinement.

Unable to leave a space

while the rest
of their vast homelands

were opened up for settlement.

[narrator] Though the government
honors the treaties at first,

as the Civil War
rages back east,

most of the money and food
they have promised the Dakota

is redirected to the war effort.

The Dakota people
had come to rely

on that food and those supplies,

and when they
no longer had them,

this created some
really dire conditions.

[narrator] Many Dakotas see
no option but to fight back.

[Edward] In August of 1862,

four Native American men

kill five white settlers.

[gunshot cracks]

And then the next day,
one of the Dakota leaders

launches a much, much larger
assault on white settlements,

killing over the next few weeks,
hundreds of white settlers,

and this is known
as the Dakota War.

It's also known as
the Dakota Uprising.

[narrator] Within a month,

American troops
crushed the uprising

and imprisoned nearly
2,000 Dakota.

President Lincoln
personally orders 38 of them

to be sent to the gallows.

It remains the largest mass
execution in American history.

When a lot of us
celebrate Abraham Lincoln

as the Great Emancipator,

there are many Native tribes

that see Lincoln
as the great betrayer.

Many had done nothing wrong.

They were misidentified

and just simply got
tangled up in paperwork.

It was grizzly and ghastly,

and it's deep wound

in the psyche
of Indigenous America.

[narrator] But the United States
isn't done seeking retribution.

After the executions,

the army pushes west

pursuing and killing
thousands of fleeing Dakota.

But one Dakota leader
manages to elude capture,

retreating further west into
lands occupied by the Lakota.

His name is Inkpaduta.

[Jeffery] Inkpaduta was
a well-respected war leader

and warrior of the Dakota Nation

who led many
successful combat raids

against the United States
in Minnesota.

The United States government

is looking to catch him
and hang him.

[narrator] With the US Army in
pursuit,

Inkpaduta knows he
can't win this fight alone.

So he turns to the one man
he believes can protect him.

Sitting Bull.

[Jeffery] You have to remember,
Sitting Bull at the time

is a leader in a nation

that has dominated
other Native nations

in this region for decades.

So, Inkpaduta is going
to meet with Sitting Bull

and he is going to ask for
their assistance in this combat.

[narrator] As Sitting Bull
welcomes the Dakota

into his village,

thousands of US soldiers
are closing in

with orders to
take down Inkpaduta.

And anyone who
stands in their way.

On the run from the US Army,

Dakota war chief Inkpaduta

comes to Sitting Bull

with a desperate plea for help.

[narrator] Up to this point,

Sitting Bull hasn't engaged

in direct conflict
with the US forces.

But Inkpaduta describes
a threat

that is closer and more
destructive than ever before.

In the West, they considered
Indigenous people

as vermin that needed
to be eradicated.

And you do that by not only
going after warriors or men,

but also making sure
that women and children

are either in prison,

relocated,
or out-and-out killed.

[narrator] Sitting Bull knows
that by harboring Inkpaduta

and the Dakota,

he's putting his own people in
the crosshairs of the US Army.

As Sitting Bull
prepares his people for war,

over 3,000 US soldiers
pour into Lakota territory.

The United States Army
decided not only to chase

all Dakota out
of the boundaries of Minnesota,

but to carry the war
out onto the plains.

To make sure
that no insurrection

of the sort occurred again.

[narrator] Leading one regiment

is Brigadier General
Alfred Sully.

Privates form up.

[narrator] A Civil War veteran
with a notorious reputation.

[Christy] During the Civil War,

Sully is court martialed

because of an uprising
among his troops

and they felt like
they were done.

They had served their two years.

They did not like the idea that
they were being sent elsewhere.

So, his men mutiny.

And the stain is so significant,

they relieve him of duty
in the middle of the Civil War

and send him out west.

[narrator] Sully's scouts
report that Inkpaduta,

and the Lakota leader
who is protecting him,

have made camp 10 miles away

at the base of a mountain
known as Killdeer.

[hooves thundering]

[tense music plays]

[narrator] The stage is set
for the first major battle

between the US Army

and the most formidable
warriors on the Great Plains.

[Jeffery] The Lakota Nation
is at the height of its power

and Sitting Bull was
tremendously confident

in his abilities as a warrior

and a war leader to actually
resist the United States.

[whoops]

[narrator]
Sitting Bull's 1,500 warriors

are about to come face to face

with Sully's 2,000 soldiers

who are armed with
state-of-the-art rifles

plus two artillery batteries.

[William] When the Battle
of Killdeer Mountain began,

the Lakotas relied on customary
tactics that they had used

against other
Indigenous nations,

but it became quickly
clear in this battle

that the typical attacks

weren't going to
be very effective.

[Bill] In the Sully fight,

the Lakota were mostly armed
with bow and arrow and lance.

They had a few old
trade muskets, not many,

that had very poor
range and accuracy.

They were greatly outclassed.

[narrator] In a matter of hours,

General Sully and his soldiers
overwhelmed the tribal warriors,

leaving them with one option.

- The United States' superior
firepower forced the Lakotas

and their Dakota allies to
withdraw,

and it was a rather
hasty withdrawal at that.

They left behind food,

lodges, clothing at
their campsite, and fled.

[narrator]
But Sully isn't finished.

He orders his men to burn
the village to the ground.

[Edward] Plains warriors bring
their whole world with them.

They bring their tents,
their people,

their women and children,
their elderly, all their tools.

Everything is with them

very proximate to
the place of battle.

And US military figures
understand

that this is a vulnerability.

This is a weak spot.

[narrator] For Sitting Bull,

the Battle of Killdeer Mountain
is a devastating defeat.

Thousands of his people have
been left without food,

clothing, and shelter.

And he's lost more warriors
in a single day of battle

than the tribe has lost
in the previous 10 years.

[Clay] The man-to-man combat

that Sitting Bull
preferred all of his life,

where an individual stakes his
life against another individual,

was not the way of war
of modern Europeans.

And it struck the Natives as,

in a sense, a war crime.

And it didn't square
with their idea

of what honor
and war should mean.

[narrator] Sitting Bull realizes

he is in a fight for his
people's survival,

and vows that he won't rest

until they are avenged.

[ominous music]

[indistinct shouting]

[whooping]

[narrator] Less than a month
after suffering defeat

at the Battle of
Killdeer Mountain,

Sitting Bull finds a way
to fight General Sully

and the US Army on his terms,

by luring them into a part
of the Great Plains

called the Badlands.

[Edward] The rough
terrain of the Badlands,

there are hard ravines, gullies.

It's very, very difficult to
traverse this territory.

[Mark Lee] The famed Badlands

is an excellent area
for the Lakota

to attack from
surprised vantage points.

Pick off stragglers
and to harass this column.

[Jeffery] They basically
go for guerrilla warfare.

It is a new strategy
that Sitting Bull

is going to incorporate into
his dossier, if you will.

[Edward] So Sully has
his work cut out for him.

All along that journey
through the Badlands,

he's being harassed,
shot at, ambushed

by the forces of the Lakota.

For Sully and his forces,

the terrain was
a huge impediment.

For the Native forces
that he was up against,

it was a great asset.

[narrator]
Over the next two weeks,

Lakota warriors relentlessly
assault Sully's troops.

With the mounting death toll

and his men in
constant fear of attack,

General Sully's only goal
is to escape the Badlands.

His plan to defeat
the Lakota is a failure.

[Mark Lee] Sully did
move his column through,

but he did not defeat
Sitting Bull's people.

They lived to fight another day.

[narrator] For the moment,
Sitting Bull has secured peace

for his people

and shown them that
they can hold their own

against this powerful new enemy.

[Edward] Sitting Bull spent most
of his life outside of contact

with the white world, but now
that's all rapidly changing

on the Northern Plains.

His encounter with US military

at Killdeer Mountain
in the Badlands

is a great moment
of education for him.

[narrator] But as Sitting Bull
begins to learn more

about his new adversary,

massive changes back east

will cause even more
Americans to head west.

In April 1865, the Civil War
finally ends

with the South's surrender
at Appomattox Courthouse.

Five days later,

President Lincoln
is assassinated.

[somber music]

The nation has just emerged

from four years
of its bloodiest war.

Now it has lost the leader

who guided them through
that painful period.

The country is in mourning.

But a new reason for
optimism emerges

with news of a discovery
in the territory of Montana.

Most Americans know about the
California Gold Rush of 1849,

and they know a little less
about the gold rush to Montana

that brought 10,000 miners
into the Northern Rockies.

[narrator] Eager to put
the war behind them,

hordes of prospectors head
west to claim their fortune.

But the route they travel

crosses right through
Sitting Bull's homeland.

[Mark Lee] They went right
through the heart

of Lakota country,

the buffalo lands
where they lived and hunted.

And anytime there's a road or
trail, it's scaring away game.

It's taking their resources.

That becomes a huge bone of
contention with the Lakotas.

[narrator]
After risking everything

to repel General Sully's
forces from Lakota land,

Sitting Bull now faces
a much bigger invasion.

[narrator] It's 1865,

less than a year since
Sitting Bull

pushed the US Army
out of Hunkpapa territory.

[whoops]

But now the Lakota leader
faces a new invasion...

Waves of settlers surging
across the Great Plains

on their way to the gold
fields of Montana.

[Megan Kate] The Montana
Gold Rush brought miners

and wagon trains
into the Northern Rockies

just west of
the Lakota homelands.

And these actions
really provoked

the Lakota people
and particularly Sitting Bull

and the Hunkpapa who objected

to the presence of
white migrants on their lands.

[narrator] But only a small
number of miners

are following the trail
through Sitting Bull's land.

The vast majority
are taking a route

that lies 300 miles
to the south,

known as the Bozeman Trail.

The Bozeman Trail cuts
through land

occupied by another band of
the Lakota Nation,

the Oglala.

Now the Hunkpapa were one
of the smallest bands.

The largest
were the Oglalas.

[narrator] In just one year,
over 2,000 miners

protected by an army escort

traveled through
Oglala territory

causing destruction
along the way.

[Shane] They were
chopping down these trees,

killing bison, and destroying
the most important habitat

of the Native people
of the region.

[narrator] One Oglala war chief

is determined to drive these
intruders from his land.

His name is Red Cloud.

[Megan Kate]
Red Cloud was quite resistant

to the US government
and all of their attempts

to take Lakota land.

It was really
Red Cloud who marshalled

a lot of the Lakota people
to fight US Army officials.

[narrator] Red Cloud knows
that to take on the US Army,

he's going to need help.

So, he turns to
the one Lakota leader

who has the experience
and success

he'll need to defeat
the Americans.

Sitting Bull.

It's an alliance
made even stronger

by one of the fiercest warriors

on the Great Plains,
Crazy Horse.

[indistinct shouting]

Sitting Bull and Red Cloud

had achieved tremendous
military success,

but Crazy Horse
was in another level.

He had over 200 feathers
in his war bonnet.

Crazy Horse was probably

the best warrior that
the Lakota had ever produced.

[narrator] Together,
Sitting Bull and Red Cloud

come up with a plan
unlike any in Lakota history.

A coordinated military operation
against the United States Army.

[speaking Indigenous language]

[Clay] There's a deeply
decentralized structure

to the Lakota world.

And very seldom do they
ever come together as one.

But when push came to shove,

the Native People were
able to come together

with enough consensus
and coordination

to fight a united front against
the white people, the Wasi'chu.

[dramatic tense music]

[calling out]

[gunshots crack in distance]

[soldier grunts]

[narrator] In the north,
Sitting Bull and 300 warriors

attacked military supply lines
along the Missouri River.

To the south, Red Cloud
and Crazy Horse

fight troops
defending the Bozeman Trail.

[gunshot whizzes]

Killing 29 US soldiers
in one battle alone.

As hostilities escalate,

the United States sends in one
of its most ruthless generals

to bring the area under control,

William Tecumseh Sherman.

By the end of the Civil War,
Sherman was known as the man

who burned Atlanta,

who did the scorched earth
policy in the South.

He was considered
the most brutal

of all the Union generals.

He knows how to win
a modern war,

which is to relentlessly
attack the enemy,

wear them down,

continuously pursue them
until the war is over.

[narrator] Sherman takes control
of all US forces

between the Mississippi River
and the Rocky Mountains.

His first show of force

is the construction
of three imposing forts

to guard the Bozeman Trail.

And prevent the Lakota from
disrupting the flow of gold.

[Shane] The establishment of
the forts there along the trail

was really an affront to
Native people of the region

because there was
an incredible amount

of resources that were
being extracted.

Imagine two football fields'
size worth of trees

cut down just to create
the boundary around this fort.

It was clear to
the Plains Indians at that point

that this was going to be
a permanent and very damaging

arrival of the colonizers.

[narrator] Sitting Bull
and Red Cloud know

that in order to push these
foreign invaders off their land,

they'll need to find
a way to break

the Americans'
imposing defenses.

[narrator] In 1866,

Sitting Bull
and Red Cloud's efforts

to drive gold prospectors
from their land

has hit a roadblock,
a trio of new, well-defended

US forts.

Now the Lakota leaders
must devise a plan

to destroy the army's
overwhelming advantage.

Their strategy stretched
the US defenses to the limit.

Sitting Bull launches
attacks to pin down US forces

on the Upper Missouri River.

While Red Cloud and Crazy Horse
focused their efforts

on attacking the army's forts
along the Bozeman trail.

There was great success with
Sitting Bull and his warriors.

Crazy Horse, Red Cloud
and his warriors.

The US government could not
devote enough resources

to maintain the forts

and to fight the Lakotas
harassing them on a daily basis.

[narrator]
On December 21st, 1866,

Sitting Bull and Red Cloud's
campaign comes to a head.

Several allied bands
of Lakotas came together

and planned a massive assault
on Fort Phil Kearny.

The Lakotas had learned you
can't do a direct assault

on a fort,
the fort has cannons.

One of the tactics
was to try to decoy

a small group to a place
where they could be ambushed.

This is the kind of thing that
is in Sun Tzu's "Art of War".

It was practiced by
Alexander the Great,

Genghis Khan, and that's
the feigned retreat,

where you go into fight

and then you act like
you're running away

because you're scared
and they're winning.

To draw them in
to where you want them.

[guns firing]

Crazy Horse and his
decoys would attack,

and then the fort would send out
reinforcements

to drive the Lakotas away.

This reinforcement
party detachment

was led by a man
named Fetterman.

He had 81 men,
both cavalry and infantry.

And of course, once Fetterman
gets over that ridge,

there are 2,000 warriors
waiting for them.

[guns firing]

[soldiers shouting]

And they never crossed
that ridge again.

[narrator] The Lakota warriors
ambush and kill 81 US soldiers.

To that point, it's America's
worst military defeat

on the Great Plains.

[Shane] The Fetterman fight,
the Fetterman massacre,

as it's also known as,
was an electrifying event

that really caused
the whole nation to gasp.

They could not believe that

80 troops had been killed

in really, probably
less than 15 minutes.

[Mark Lee] This defeat brought
about national headlines,

created shock and anger.

You had an army that had
defeated the Confederacy

in the Civil War
just the year before.

How can these,
that they called savages,

how could they defeat 81 men?

How could that happen?
So, it was a complete shock.

[narrator] Back East,
the commander of the army,

Ulysses S. Grant, faces
criticism over mounting losses.

'Cause this was going
to become too costly

in terms of lives,

in terms of all of the equipment

that it was
going to take to fight.

You have to think about
in Fort Phil Kearny,

they had incredible
quarters for the captains.

There were chandeliers,
grand pianos.

They brought their
wives and their children.

So, they just weren't
willing and able

to continue that investment

after the tremendous
defeat that they suffered.

[narrator]
Grant is left with one option...

to pull the troops and seek
a peace treaty with the Lakota.

[Clay]
This great and stunning victory

wasn't against a
group of extras.

You know, the B team.

Some of the great figures of
the American army were involved

in this war.

Sherman, the A team
of the American military,

looked on in horror to see

these Natives
best them in every way.

[narrator] But while
Red Cloud sees the victory

as an opportunity to make
a deal with the United States,

Sitting Bull remembers
how Inkpaduta and the Dakota

were treated by the US
six years earlier.

He knows that the Americans
can't be trusted,

and that the bloodshed
is far from over.

[narrator] In the wake
of the Fetterman fight,

where 81 US soldiers are killed
at Fort Phil Kearny

in December 1866,

the Lakota have forced
the United States

to the bargaining table.

But Oglala war chief Red Cloud

will only meet
with the Americans

under one condition.

[Mark Lee] Red Cloud demanded

before signing any treaty

that these military posts
on the Bozeman cutoff

would be abandoned by
the US government.

[Megan Kate] This was
in fact a great victory.

They had forced US soldiers
to abandon their forts

and demonstrated
to the federal government

that they had no place
in Lakota homelands.

After all of the troops and
everyone

abandoned the forts,

the Lakota people came in
and burned them to the ground.

I think that was a great
celebratory moment for them

to say that we have kicked
the people out of our homeland.

We have the force,
we have the power,

we have the medicine
to win this war.

[narrator]
In the spring of 1868,

a government commission meets
with Plains tribal leaders

to begin peace negotiations.

[Shane] It's an amazing moment
that's been captured

by photographs,

tribal leaders sitting down
with General Sherman

at the treaty negotiations
at Fort Laramie.

When you look
at that photograph,

all the Native People
were sitting on the ground

and the US Army
was sitting in chairs.

And I think that
that really kinda symbolizes

how these two parties
saw this agreement.

For Native People, sitting down
on the ground in a circle

was a show of humility
on the part of everyone.

But the US Army wasn't
interested in showing humility.

[narrator] The United States
Army may have been beaten

by the Lakota on the
battlefield,

but government officials
eye an even bigger victory

at the bargaining table.

[Douglas] You never want to
suppose that General Sherman

at the Treaty of Fort Laramie
was operating in good faith.

The US government wasn't
interested in Native rights.

Nothing was going to
stop the capitalist

expansion of America.

[narrator]
As part of its peace terms,

the US agrees to set aside
almost 100,000 square miles

to serve exclusively as
Lakota land.

They call it
the Great Sioux Reservation.

[Megan Kate] The core of it
was in what we now know of

as South Dakota,

extended from the Missouri
River to the Black Hills.

The Black Hills was a sacred
site to the Lakota people.

The federal government
recognized the Lakota right

to this most sacred
space in their homeland.

[narrator] In addition,
the government promises

to provide food rations,

supplies, even farming tools
and livestock.

Everything needed to sustain
a basic standard of living.

[Bill] There was
a lot of purposes

for the reservation system.

On the well-meaning side,

they thought bring
civilization to the tribes,

as if white civilization
was what the tribes wanted,

which we obviously know is not.

On the other side,
a little bit more sinister.

Bring them together.
Make them dependent.

Get them out of the prime
lands that the whites wanted.

[narrator] Red Cloud weighs what
the treaty will mean

for his people.

And ultimately recognizes it
as an opportunity for peace.

[Douglas]
Red Cloud was starting to see

the real power of the enemy,

the industrial might
of the East,

and that that is what's also
making its march to the West.

It was going to be very hard
to do military strategy

against that amount of
overwhelming force

that the United States
represented.

Red Cloud is going to sign it.

He believes he's doing so
for the best of the nation.

And he promised at that time
that he would never fight

against the United States again.

And because he keeps his word,
he actually never will

fight against
the United States again.

[narrator]
On February 16th, 1869,

the Fort Laramie Treaty
takes effect.

[Mark Lee] Lakota leaders
and other Native leaders

on the Great Plains,

they didn't know how to
sign their names in English,

but they would have
to make their mark.

And so, this came to be known
amongst Native nations

as touching the pen.

That was a finality.

And that made it
a binding document.

[narrator]
With the treaty in place,

the Great Sioux Reservation
is established,

officially confining the Lakota

to only 100,000
square miles of land.

Close to half what they
once considered theirs.

[somber music]

While Red Cloud believes

he's secured a lasting
peace for the Lakota,

his chief ally during
the war refuses to sign.

For Sitting Bull,
moving on to a reservation

goes against everything
it means to be Lakota.

[Mark Lee]
The entire Lakota existence

was based on mobility,
freedom of movement, free will.

And this idea of a line

that you could not cross
was totally foreign

and totally against everything

that they lived for.

In the eyes of Sitting Bull,
everything changes

once Red Cloud touches the pen.

That was the worst
possible thing you could do

because you're
giving away Lakota land.

[narrator] But after years of
bloodshed,

many Lakota agree with Red Cloud

and are willing to sacrifice
freedom for safety.

Almost 10,000 tribal members,

two-thirds of the Lakota Nation,

move on to the reservation,

including half of
Sitting Bull's Hunkpapa tribe.

Sitting Bull convinces
his remaining followers

to join him outside
the boundaries

of the reservation.

He leads them further west
into the Wyoming territory,

where they can continue their
traditional lifestyle.

[Shane] Sitting Bull was not
able to accept any alternative

other than complete freedom

to hunt bison,
traverse the land,

move camps during the seasons,

to live as God intended
Lakota people to live.

He was not going to
change his way of life.

[narrator] By defying the
government's attempts

to control his people,

Sitting Bull has created
a resistance movement

that will define
the rest of his life.

[narrator]
After refusing to be confined

on the Great Sioux Reservation,

Sitting Bull severs his alliance

with the Oglala
war chief, Red Cloud,

and leads his followers west.

Determined to carry on the
Lakota's traditional way of life

in the Wyoming Territory.

But with his village numbering
just a few hundred,

he knows it isn't
much of a movement.

But soon, an unexpected
visitor arrives.

[heartfelt music plays]

[narrator] Crazy Horse has
chosen to split with Red Cloud,

to join Sitting Bull.

Crazy Horse was not about to
settle for reservation life.

He was not going to settle
for living in one place

all the time and collecting
some kind of rations.

He wanted to live the old way.
He wanted to be independent.

[narrator] Sitting Bull and
Crazy Horse quickly become known

as symbols of resistance
for all of the tribes.

Their example inspires
thousands of Lakota

to leave the reservation

and join their
growing community.

[Mark Lee]
That alliance was critical

because others that feel
the same way are drawn to them.

People are flocking to
Sitting Bull and to Crazy Horse.

They're going to
live in those lands

in the territory,
off the reservation.

They're going to continue
to go where they want to go.

They're going to
follow the buffalo.

That's the life
they want to lead.

And they see people like
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull

as the men that can help them
maintain their traditions.

[narrator] By 1869,

Sitting Bull's coalition
of Hunkpapa, Oglala,

and other bands
has swelled in size

to close to 3,000 members.

Establishing an unprecedented
independent Lakota Nation.

[Mark Lee] In Lakota society,
it wasn't set up

to where you have one leader

or political leader
or military leader.

You have lots of equal chiefs
or leaders.

But in 1869,
the anti-treaty bands

realize that the threat of
Euro-American encroachment

is so great that they have to
kind of change

the way they operate.

[gentle majestic music]

[narrator]
In the summer of 1869,

Sitting Bull is
elected unanimously

by an inter tribal
council of elders

as the first ever
leader of all Lakota.

[Shane]
It took all those years to build

that trust amongst
his community.

You have to show
day in and day out

your integrity, your wisdom.

And that's what
Sitting Bull did.

He was a grassroots leader

and that is the hallmark
of the Lakota leadership style.

[narrator] But as Sitting Bull
rises to prominence

on the Great Plains,

he starts gaining the attention
of people back east

and throughout America.

[Megan] It was really
in the late 1860s,

after the Treaty of Fort Laramie

that Sitting Bull becomes

a louder and louder voice for
noncompliance and resistance.

His name begins to
crop up in local newspapers,

in US Army reports.

And the federal government
comes to know him specifically,

and Crazy Horse, as these
symbols of resistance.

[narrator] To the US Government,
Sitting Bull's growing movement

poses a threat
to the nation's expansion.

So, officials enact
a drastic plan to stop it.

[narrator] By 1869,

thousands of Lakota living
on the Great Sioux Reservation

have joined Sitting Bull
and Crazy Horse

in their free
and independent Lakota Nation,

continuing their
traditional way of life

on the open plains.

Far from the reach
of the US government.

[guns firing]

[Shane] The push west with
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull

was to be able to
still hunt bison.

[narrator] But the US government

views Sitting Bull's growing
movement as a threat

to the American
settlement of the West.

And now General
William Tecumseh Sherman

believes he has a way
to break the Lakota's will.

[melancholy music plays]

General Sherman devises
a ruthless strategy

to force the Lakota
onto the reservation

by cutting off
their food supply.

[Jeffery] United States
government had a policy

of eliminating
the buffalo population

on the Great Plains as a way

to starve Native Americans
into submission.

Army officials urged Americans
to hunt down and kill

as many bison
as they possibly could.

[narrator]
Newspapers across the country

encouraged thousands
of Americans to head west

to take part
in buffalo hunting parties.

Using state-of-the-art
rifles and ammunition

supplied by the army,

the hunters leave
a trail of carnage.

[Edward] People are just out
there to simply kill a buffalo

and cut off its
tail as a trophy,

or maybe cut off its head, and
leave the rest

of the carcass
rotting on the ground.

And in some cases people
shooting from trains

would pick off buffalo

and leave the entire
buffalo to rot.

[narrator]
At the peak of the slaughter,

over 5,000 buffalo
per day are killed.

One hunter
named William Cody

becomes famous for killing more
than 4,000 buffalo himself

in just 18 months,

earning him
the nickname Buffalo Bill.

[Paul] Buffalo Bill,
he was the most famous

buffalo killer in the nation.

He hunted them on horseback
with a single shot rifle,

just like
the Native Americans did.

He was the real deal.

[narrator] By the early 1870s,

millions of buffalo
had been slaughtered.

In the early 1800s,
the buffalo population,

or the American
bison population,

was somewhere between
25 and 30 million.

That population goes radically
into decline by the 1870s.

You go from 30 million bison

to about 1,000 in 1890.

[narrator] The buffalo
slaughtering campaign

puts incredible
pressure on the Lakota

living off the reservation.

Sitting Bull knows
this is a direct threat

to his tribe's
traditional existence.

And as a leader,

his people are relying on him

to keep them safe,
strong, and unified.

When we have
the mass destruction

and mass devastation
of the buffalo

by the United States
government deliberately,

that not only represents
the destruction

of a food source and a resource,

but it also
fundamentally disrupts

an Indigenous way of life.

[Frank] For the Lakota Nation,

the buffalo was the center of
our culture in so many ways.

It was not only our food source

and our source
of clothing and weapons,

but also the root
of our cultural identity.

So when you remove that center
and you remove that root,

it disconnected us from a lot
of what it meant to be Lakota.

[narrator] Though the buffalo
slaughter forces many

onto the reservation,

Sitting Bull
refuses to give in,

leading his people
further north and west

away from American settlements

in search of more herds.

[Clay] Sitting Bull was
a steward of the community.

He was very much interested

in taking care of
the women and children

and making sure that the lifeway

of the Lakota was healthy
and that it would continue.

So, he was able to convince
people to stay with him.

[narrator]
Hundreds of miles to the west

in Montana's
Yellowstone River Valley,

Sitting Bull's people
were finally able

to locate buffalo herds
large enough to sustain them.

[Shane] The focus became Montana

because Montana is
the place with the bison.

[narrator]
But their peace and prosperity

will be short lived

as the move west puts them
directly into the path

of a new threat.

[train horn bellows]

[narrator] Faced with
a government sponsored

extermination campaign,

Sitting Bull has taken his
followers further north

and west in search
of more buffalo.

But when they reach
the Yellowstone River Valley

in the Montana Territory,

the Lakota leader
encounters a new problem.

Teams of surveyors and soldiers

roaming the land
with one purpose...

To plot the course
of a railroad line.

[train roars by]

Back east, the United States

is experiencing
an economic boom,

fueled in large part
by the growth of the railroads.

[Paul] The railroads were
crisscrossing the nation,

pushing all through the west.

A lot of financing
went into this

and it was seen,
especially by the government

and the military,

as absolutely essential

to bringing, as they saw it,
civilization to the west.

The railroad has just
an enormous impact

in transforming
the American west.

And bringing all
of the things of the east.

All the technology,

lots of people,
and the industries.

[narrator]
Just three years earlier,

the first transcontinental
railroad was completed,

linking both coasts of America.

Cross-country travel that had
taken months by wagon train...

Takes only days by rail.

And trains can finally connect
the mines of the west

with the factories of the east.

Now the new President
of the United States,

Ulysses S Grant wants to build
another cross-country rail line

running through
the northern Great Plains.

[Megan Kate]
The Northern Pacific Railroad

was meant to be the second
transcontinental line

to connect the Great Lakes
to the Pacific Coast.

It would take settlers
and move products

back and forth through
a region of the country

known as the Great Northwest,

much of which
was Lakota country.

[narrator]
For Sitting Bull,

it appears
no matter how far away

he tries to lead his people,

the relentless expansion
of the United States

is inescapable.

[Paul] Sitting Bull's
people didn't want

these settlers coming in

and they didn't want
miners coming in.

And they didn't want
more soldiers coming in.

The railroad was going
to bring all of those.

Sitting Bull was absolutely
certain that they must prevent

the Northern Pacific Railroad
from going through

this prime buffalo country
or all would be lost.

[dramatic music building]

[narrator]
Sitting Bull's warriors

launched dozens of guerrilla
ambushes on the railroad teams.

But during one attack,
they killed the wrong man.

Among the casualties
was the cousin

of the First Lady of
the United States,

Julia Dent,
President Grant's wife.

And so, this wasn't just

an economic problem because of
the need for the railroad.

It wasn't just
a military problem.

Now it's becoming
a family problem.

[narrator]
When he ran for president,

Grant promised to maintain
peace with western tribes.

But the brutal murder
of his wife's cousin

is impossible to ignore.

In July of 1873,

Grant sends thousands of
soldiers

into Montana Territory,

including
the 7th Cavalry Regiment

led by a civil war legend,

33-year-old Lieutenant Colonel

George Armstrong Custer.

He's flamboyant, he's a bit
of a self-promoter.

He's very ambitious.

[Edward] But Custer is,
in fact, the real deal.

Along with all that flashiness,

he brings authentic
military genius,

physical courage.

So, he has this real
sense of himself

as someone destined
for greatness.

[Paul] Custer was
a two star general at 25

during the Civil War.

Widely admired,
an incredible hero.

The "Boy General",
they called him,

who always led from the front.

[narrator] By this point,

Custer has already earned
a reputation on the Great Plains

after launching a campaign

against the Cheyenne in Oklahoma

that turned into a massacre.

Killing over 150 villagers

and capturing more
than 50 women and children.

Now Custer is tasked

with defending the survey teams
from Lakota ambushes.

And to fight Sitting Bull,

he has a secret weapon,

a scout named Bloody Knife,

who grew up
in Sitting Bull's village.

Bloody Knife had a kind of
unique situation

because his mother was Arikara,

which is a longstanding enemy
of the Lakota,

so his position growing up

was kind of one of an outsider.

They ridiculed him constantly
because, you know,

he's mixed blood.

Especially Gall took
great pleasure

in making him feel
that he wasn't good enough.

Bloody Knife never forgot the
way he was treated,

and he held this grudge
all of his life,

and it was going to
have dramatic consequences.

[narrator] Custer's
thirst for greater glory

and Bloody Knife's need
for revenge

will put them on a path
to a dramatic showdown

with Sitting Bull
and his people.

Leading to one of the most
pivotal battles

in American history,

Little Bighorn.

On the next episode
of Sitting Bull,

the threat of American expansion

pushes Sitting Bull
into attack mode.

[whoops]

The fights on the Yellowstone
were a postgraduate course

for Custer in Lakota warfare.

[narrator] But the lure of gold
on sacred Lakota land

raises the stakes.

[warrior shouts]

Setting the stage
for an epic showdown.

[Shane] The warriors believed
that they had been blessed

by the Great Spirit
to achieve a great victory.

[soldier groans]

[narrator]
The Lakota's historic triumph...

[whoops]

...gives rise to a nation
now bent on revenge.

Sitting Bull suddenly becomes
front page news,

half man, half beast.

Prancing over
Custer's fallen corpse.

The country wanted
Sitting Bull's scalp.

[narrator] Sitting Bull will
face unthinkable challenges.

His people are literally
starving to death

and he has to make
a tough moral calculation.

[narrator] New enemies.

McLaughlin refused to respect
who Sitting Bull was

and the reverence in which
he was held by his followers.

[narrator]
And unexpected opportunities.

[Shane] He was able to
reinvent himself again.

Known throughout the world

amongst all nations
as a man of great pride,

of great dignity,
great vision.

[narrator] And through it all,
the Lakota leader

refuses to stop fighting.