Black Hills Gold Rush, Dakota Territory, United States

The Black Hills Gold Rush, which takes place in Dakota Territory in the United States, is generally considered to have started 1868-70, peaking in 1876.Rumors and poorly documented reports of gold in the Black Hills go back to the early 1800s.

In the 1860s, Catholic missionary Father De Smet is reported to have seen Sioux Indians carrying gold they told him came from the Black Hills.Prior to the Gold Rush, the Black Hills had been used by Native Americans (primarily bands of Sioux but others also ranged through the area).

The United States government had recognized the Black Hills as belonging to the Sioux by the Treaty of Laramie in 1868.

Despite being within Indian territory, and therefore off-limits, white Americans are increasingly interested in the gold-mining possibilities of the Black Hills.Prospectors find gold in 1874 near present-day Custer, South Dakota, but the deposit turns out to be small.

The large placer gold deposits of Deadwood Gulch are discovered in November 1875, and in 1876, thousands of gold-seekers flock to the new town of Deadwood, although it is still within Indian land.

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