On this day, 17 March 1876 US troops attacked sleeping Cheyenne and Oglala Lakota people in Montana in the Battle of Powder River, marking the beginning of the Great Sioux War. They destroyed the village and stole large amounts of the Native Americans’ possessions. But despite firing nearly 2,000 bullets, US forces only managed to kill one Native American. On the other hand the Cheyenne and Lakota warriors, led by Éše'he Ôhnéšesêstse (Two Moons, pictured) with only around 200 bullets killed four and seriously wounded six soldiers. They also recaptured 500 of their horses the next morning.
The US commanding officer, colonel Joseph Reynolds, was court-martialed following the failed assault and suspended from duty. The incident likely galvanised resistance to the enforced relocation of Native Americans from the Black Hills to a reservation.
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