DEC 16: General Terry Dies

Alfred Howe Terry, George Custer’s commanding officer at Battle of Little Bighorn, dies on Dec. 16, 1890, in New Haven, Connecticut. Terry was a Union general in the Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1872 to 1886. 

Terry was a key figure in the negotiation and signing of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, serving as a member of the U.S. Peace Commission. He used his legal background to help forge the agreement that ended Red Cloud’s War. The treaty, signed on April 29, 1868, meant the U.S. Government recognized the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation and set it aside for exclusive use by the Sioux people.

Following the discovery of gold in the Black Hills during an 1874 expedition led by Custer, the government looked for ways to reclaim ownership of the Black Hills.

General Alfred Howe Terry, far left, and other members of the 1868 U.S. Peace Commission, including Lt. General William T. Sherman (third from left.)