EPISODE 16 The War for the Black Hills (Part 1): The Heart of Everything That Is

“The Black Hills is my land and I love it.And whoever interferes will hear this gun.”— Lakota song“Came to the Hills in 1833… got our gold in 1834. Got all the gold we could carry. Our ponys got by Indians. I have lost my gun and nothing to eat and Indians hunting me.”— Ezra KindTo the Lakota people, the Black Hills of South Dakota were — and still are — "the heart of everything that is." To the United States, they were a goldmine, and Manifest Destiny’s next target. It was for the Black Hills that the Lakota went to war against the United States for the last time. In this episode: We become acquainted with one of this story’s key characters: George Armstrong Custer“In years long numbered with the past when I was verging upon manhood, my every thought was ambitious—not to be wealthy, not to be learned, but to be great.” CusterCuster’s key role at the Battle of GettysburgReckless and proudAWOLWashita‘Garry Owen’ was Custer’s version of Apocalypse NowThe genesis of the hatred between Benteen and CusterRaping POWsLack of money makes President Grant a peaceful manThe Mafia of the railroadsThe Yellowstone expedition and the economic collapse of 1873The Thieves’ Road, and Charley Reynolds’ rideThis summer I will be part of a tour of the Little Bighorn and relevant sites across Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota organized by www.geeknationtours.com Check out the details of the tour at http://geeknationtours.com/tours_post/signature-battlefield-series-the-battlefield-of-little-big-horn/ Thanks to Audible for supporting our podcast.  Get a free audiobook with a free 30 day trial at http://audible.com/hofPlease, also show some love to my regular sponsors by shopping for supplements, special foods, clothing and exercise equipment at http://www.onnit.com/history and receive a 10% discount. And if you are in the market for backpacks, computer bags and other hemp gear, check out my favorites at http://www.dsgear.com and use the code “daniele” at checkout for a discount. My lady (and author of History on Fire logo) has a FB public page about her art & fighting: https://www.facebook.com/NahryEm/. This is the video of her pro debut match: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxM81mds1Qs&feature=youtu.be Thank you to Onnit, Datsusara, Float Clinic, Shaman’s Simple Solutions, and Fight Chix for sponsoring her for her first MMA fight. If you’d like to check out Fight Chix merchandise, you can get a 20% discount by going to http://www.fightchix.com/ and entering the code Fire20 upon checkout.This is my public FB page: https://www.facebook.com/danielebolelli1/ Here is a link to the audiobook of my “Not Afraid”: http://www.danielebolelli.com/downloads/not-afraid-audiobook/ For those of you who may be interested, here is a lecture series I created about Taoist philosophy: http://www.danielebolelli.com/downloads/taoist-lectures/