Gall
Lakota Sioux
Topics covered in this document:
Introduction
There's a story about how Gall got his unusual name. The story goes that
as a young and famished orphan, he ate the gall of an animal that had been
killed by one of his neighbors.
Whether or not that story is true, we'll probably never know.
Hunkpapa Chief
Gall was a Hunkpapa chief who rose to prominence among the Lakota as
one of the warriors in the Red
Cloud campaigns.
Unhappy with the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which brought an end to
those campaigns, Gall joined Sitting
Bull and other war chiefs who refused to stay within the boundaries
set up for them on the reservation.
Later in life, however, Gall changed his tune. Some 15 years later,
while confined to a reservation, he encouraged his people to accept
assimilation into white society as their only option. This opinion is
probably the reason Gall is not as well-known as his Lakota warrior
peers.
Which is too bad. Looking back with 20-20 hindsight, he probably had
the right idea. Like the old saying goes: If you can't beat 'em, join
'em.
Military War Chief
As one of Sitting Bull's military chiefs, Gall led attacks on army
troops along the Yellowstone River in 1872 and 1873.
In 1876, at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, he and his Hunkpapa
warriors successfully drove Major Marcus Reno from the Lakota encampment.
He then moved north to assist Crazy
Horse in attacking General Custer. After the skirmish with Custer, Gall
fled farther north into Canada with Sitting Bull and his warriors.
However, in late 1880 Gall and Sitting Bull had an argument, most
likely about Gall's peace-seeking attitude toward Whites, and Gall
brought his band back south across the border.
Gall Seeks Assimilation
On 3 January 1881 Gall surrendered to the Army.
Standing Rock Reservation
He and his followers were sent to the Standing Rock reservation in
the Dakota Territory.
Indian Agent McLaughlin
It was while on this reservation that he became friends with the one
man whom Sitting Bull considered perhaps his biggest enemy ... Indian
Agent James McLaughlin.
The closeness of their friendship is witnessed by a statement by
McLaughlin that he and Gall would often discuss "personal affairs of
staggering intimacy."
Agent McLaughlin felt that Gall was, along with Red Cloud, one of the
truly great leaders of the Lakota nation.
Domestication of Lakota
Once on the reservation, Gall rejected his militant attitude and instead
became a champion of federal efforts to "domesticate" the Lakota.
He used his prestige among the Lakota to facilitate reservation farming
programs, and became a staunch supporter of educating Lakota children in
special schools.
Reservation Judge
In 1889 Gall became a reservation judge for the Court of Indian
Offenses.
Attitude Alienated Sitting Bull
That same year, he further alienated himself from Sitting Bull by
giving his consent to reduce the size of the reservation.
Among the Lakota of Standing Rock, Gall originally challenged Sitting
Bull for a place of respect ... but he never matched his former friend
and mentor's influence and authority.
Gall's Death
Gall died on 5 December 1894 at his Oak Creek home in South Dakota.
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