George Washington Manypenny newspaper business to become manager of the state public works. In 1876 Manypenny was appointed chair of a special commission to investigate the issues that led to the Sioux outbreak that year, which included the defeat of the American forces under George Armstrong Custer at the battle of the Little Bighorn. In 1880 he wrote "Our Indian Wards" which detailed a variety of wrongs perpetrated on the Indians, along with recommendations for reforms. George Washington Manypenny George Washington Manypenny (1808-1892) was the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the United States from 1853 to 1857. Manypenny was born
Great Sioux War of 1876 To combat the Sioux the U.S. army had a string of forts ringing the Great Sioux Reservation and unceded territory. The largest force arrayed against the Indians at one time was in summer 1876 and consisted of 2,500 soldiers deployed in the unceded territory and accompanied by hundreds of Indian scouts and civilians. Many of the soldiers were recent immigrants and inexperienced on the frontier and in Indian warfare. Cavalry soldiers were armed with .45 caliber, single-action revolvers and the Springfield Model 1873, a single-shot, breech-loading rifle which gave the soldiers a large advantage in range over most Indian weapons.