Spotted Tail (1823?-1881) was a leader of the Brule band of the Lakota Sioux . He led his band against white settlers in the early 1860’s but later supported peaceful relations between the Lakota and the United States government.
In 1868, Spotted Tail and other Lakota leaders signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie, which forbade whites to occupy or build roads through Lakota territory. This region included parts of present-day North and South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. Miners violated the treaty when they poured into the Black Hills during the gold rush of 1874, and several uprisings resulted. Spotted Tail did not take part in the fighting and worked for a peaceful solution. In 1877, the U.S. government took possession of the Black Hills from the Lakota. In 1878, Spotted Tail and his people settled on the Rosebud reservation in what is now South Dakota. On Aug. 5, 1881, he was killed by Crow Dog, a rival Brule leader.
Spotted Tail was born near Fort Laramie in Wyoming. The Rosebud Sioux tribal university in Mission, South Dakota, has his Sioux name, Sinte Gleska.
See also Indian wars (Wars on the Plains) .
