Historical Events of Note During Chief Iron Nation’s Lifetime
1815

1815
Solomon Iron Nation is born
Solomon Iron Nation is born into the Lower Brule Sioux in 1815 in Teton Sioux Country near modern-day Chamberlain, South Dakota, just 8 years after the passage of Lewis and Clark on the Missouri River.
1831

1831
Sitting Bull Born
Sitting Bull was born into the Hunkpapa Sioux Tribe in 1831 near modern-day Yankton, South Dakota.
Fall 1838

Fall 1838
Trail of Tears
Indians were forced to relocate from their homelands. The main tribes affected by this were the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw. The path these tribes were forced to travel led to widespread disease, starvation, and exhaustion. Thousands died on this travel.
1842
1842
Crazy Horse born
Crazy Horse was born around 1842 into the Oglala Lakota tribe near modern-day Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
1851

1851
Indian Appropriations Act
The Indian Appropriations Act of 1851, signed by Millard Fillmore, moved western tribes onto reservations. These were the first Indian reservations to be made in the U.S.
September 17, 1851

September 17, 1851
Fort Laramie Treaty 1851
Tensions between settlers and Indians were running extremely high when this treaty was signed which was meant to establish peace. White travelers continuously passed through defined Indian territories and ignored the treaty, and Indian raids continued.
1858
1858
Maggie Iron Nation born
In 1858 Chief Solomon Iron Nation’s daughter Maggie was born.
October 19, 1865

October 19, 1865
1865 Treaty of Peace
Signed at Fort Sully, this treaty established the first Lower Brule Reservation around the mouth of the White River.
April 29, 1868

April 29, 1868
Fort Laramie Treaty 1868
This treaty created the boundaries of the Great Sioux Reservation, which included the Black Hills.
Juine 25, 1876

Juine 25, 1876
Battle of Little Bighorn
Commonly referred to as “Custer’s Last Stand”, this is one of the most famous battles between Americans and Indians. The battle, which occurred June 25–26, 1876, along the Little Bighorn River in eastern Montana Territory, was the most significant action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer’s army was outsmarted by a coalition of Indian Tribes.
1876

1876
James Pachuta Byrnes born
James Pachuta Byrnes, grandson of Chief Solomon Iron Nation, was born in 1876.
September 5, 1877
September 5, 1877
Crazy Horse dies
Crazy Horse is killed by a U.S. soldier while resisting arrest at the age of 37.
December 15, 1890

December 15, 1890
Sitting Bull Dies
Indian police arrest Sitting Bull at 6:00 in the morning, hoping to spirit him away before his guards and neighbors knew what happened. The 59-year-old chief refuses to go quietly, and a crowd forms. Someone fires a shot that hits one of the Indian police; they retaliate by shooting Sitting Bull in the chest and head, killing him instantly. Before the ensuing gunfight ended, twelve more Indians died and three were wounded.
December 29, 1890

December 29, 1890
Wounded Knee Massacre
In the final chapter of America’s Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills over 150 Lakota men, women and children at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota in 1890.
November 15, 1894

November 15, 1894
Solomon Iron Nation dies
Solomon Iron Nation dies of pneumonia at the age of 79, 5 years after South Dakota became a state.