The settlers lived in small isolated communities. Some of the pioneers had seized the opportunity to return east to visit their old homes while the Centennial Exhibition was in progress in Philadelphia in the year 1876. In the spring of that year gold had been discovered in the Black Hills of Dakota, an almost unknown region girt around by what is known as Bad Lands, or “Medicine Country,” as the Indians called it. At once there was a rush of miners out of Montana to the new fields. This move helped to reduce the white population. A spirit of rebellion had been steadily rising in the minds of the red men until it reached the open hostility soon to give to American history the fearful story of the Custer Massacre. Illustration: Copyright, W. T. Ridgely Calendar Co. Painting by Charles M. Russell. INDIANS WERE EVERYWHERE STEALING HORSES AND TERRIFYING SETTLERS The Indians objected so strongly to the intrusion of prospectors and others into their territory, that they sent Red Cloud and Spotted Tail to Washington to protest, because the coming of the white men into that region was a clear violation of existing treaties. The government promised to keep prospectors out, but failed to do so. The Indians then demanded payment for their lands. The government sent a commission which reported that force would be the only way to settle the dispute. The Indians also decided that this was their only method of protest. It had been seen that the first meetings worked no advantage to either side, but served only to anger both Indians and whites. A message was sent by the United States government to Sitting Bull, who had gathered all the warriors around him in the Big Horn country. He was ordered to return to the Reservation, or the United States would make war on his people. He sent this reply: “When you come for me you need bring no guides. You will easily find me. I shall be right here. I shall not run away.” He kept his promise. The Indians took their allowance from the United States government and bought bullets and guns. They gathered along the Rosebud and Little Big Horn rivers and among the hills and valleys between. They were led by Rain-in-the-Face while their real leader, Sitting Bull, was absent making medicine.