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Black Hills Expedition

United States Army expedition led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry in 1874.[1]

Custer's mission was to locate suitable sites for a fort within the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory, find a route through them to the southwest and investigate the potential for gold mining.[1]

The expedition embarked from Fort Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1874 and arrived at the Black Hills from the north on July 22. Traces of gold were found throughout the journey, but a significant discovery was made on August 1 along French Creek that suggested a yield of $150 a day. Custer's report of gold in the Black Hills swiftly traveled back East. With the country still reeling from the the Panic of 1873, the news was soon published in the New York Times on August 22, precipitating the Black Hills Gold Rush.[1]

Stampede: Bret Maverick's introduction to his story referred to the 1875 discovery of gold in the Black Hills starting "a great stampede of gold-hungry men."[3] However, the discovery leading to the Black Hills Gold Rush was made in the summer of 1874. Bret's reference was probably to the discovery of gold in Deadwood Gulch, where he was headed at the time of his story.[4]