CHAPTER XVI
A BAD BARGAIN
The discovery of gold in California (1847) and the overland travel which followed greatly disturbed the Teton bands of the Sioux along the trail, which followed the valley of the upper Platte River to the Rocky Mountains; for the gold hunters ruthlessly shot down or frightened far away the game upon which the Indians lived. At first the Indians protested, and then began to retaliate by shooting the cattle of travelers. As time advanced they became more bold and frequently shot straggling horsemen; and once in a while a train was surprised and men shot down and women and children carried into captivity. This conduct made the government determine to establish a strong post on the Missouri River at the point nearest to the trail in the Dakota country, and with another post at Fort Laramie (in what is now Wyoming) it was thought the Indians could be held in subjection. A preliminary review of the situation led the war department to believe that the military post should be located at Fort Pierre, which was the point on the Missouri nearest to Laramie. As the fur animals had by 1855 been almost exterminated in the Dakota country the American Fur Company, which owned the post at Pierre, was glad to sell it to the government at a very large price.
95
