EPISODE 16 - The War For The Black Hills (Part 1): The Heart Of Everything That Is (Patreon)

“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 Kind

To 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.” Custer
• Custer’s key role at the Battle of Gettysburg
• Reckless and proud
• AWOL
• Washita
• ‘Garry Owen’ was Custer’s version of Apocalypse Now
• The genesis of the hatred between Benteen and Custer
• Raping POWs
• Lack of money makes President Grant a peaceful man
• The Mafia of the railroads
• The Yellowstone expedition and the economic collapse of 1873
• The Thieves’ Road, and Charley Reynolds’ ride