The Black Hills and the Gold Fever

The gold fever is like taking dope. You're helpless when it strikes you. Gold to most men mean sudden wealth big times. It means fortune and adventure and all the things they never had. An attempt was made that summer of 75 to buy the Black Hills from the Indians. But the Indians were no mood to believe anything the commissioners told them. A feeling of utter despair and despondency cast its spell over even the friendly reservation Indians. Maybe those radical chiefs were right. Maybe they'd all be better to make one big battle against the whites.