January 8
January 8
Crazy Horse fights his final battle
Outnumbered, low on ammunition, and forced to use outdated weapons to defend themselves, Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their final losing battle against the U.S. Cavalry in Montana. Six…
A Year In History: 1877
Also Within This Year in History:
1877
After the highly contested 1876 U.S. presidential election, the Compromise of 1877 put Rutherford B. Hayes in the White House. In exchange, post-Civil War federal oversight of Southern affairs known as Reconstruction ended—and, with it, any effort toward protecting Black citizens’ civil and political rights. The first general strike in U.S. history—by more than 100,000 workers—halted the nation’s railroads. Thomas Edison demonstrated his latest invention, the phonograph, while in Moscow, Tchaikovsky’s opera “Swan Lake” premiered in Moscow.
January 8
January 8
Crazy Horse fights last battle
On January 8, 1877, Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse and his men—outnumbered, low on ammunition and forced to use outdated weapons to defend themselves—fight their final losing battle against the U.S.…
March 3
March 3
Rutherford B. Hayes is inaugurated in a private ceremony
On March 3, 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes is sworn in as the 19th president of the United States in the Red Room of the White House. Two days later, Hayes…
April 1
April 1
Discoverer of Tombstone begins prospecting
Ignoring the taunts of fellow miners who say he will only find his own tombstone, prospector Edward Schieffelin begins his search for silver in the area of present‑day southern Arizona.…
May 5
May 5
Sitting Bull leads his people into Canada
Nearly a year after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Sitting Bull and a band of followers cross into Canada hoping to find safe haven from the U.S. Army. On…
May 10
May 10
Rutherford B. Hayes has first phone installed in White House
On May 10, 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes has the White House’s first telephone installed in the mansion’s telegraph room. President Hayes embraced the new technology, though he rarely received…
June 14
June 14
First African American graduate of West Point
Henry Ossian Flipper, born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia, in 1856, becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York…
July 9
July 9
Wimbledon tournament begins
On July 9, 1877, the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club begins its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon, then an outer‑suburb of London. Twenty‑two amateurs showed up to…
August 9
August 9
Nez Perce fight Battle of the Big Hole
Having refused government demands that they move to a reservation, a small band of Nez Perce tribesmen clash with the U.S. Army near the Big Hole River in Montana. The…
August 10
August 10
Amanda McFarland begins Alaskan mission
Amanda McFarland, a dedicated Presbyterian missionary, becomes the first white woman to settle at Fort Wrangell, Alaska. The wife of a Presbyterian minister from Illinois, McFarland joined her husband in…
August 17
August 17
Billy the Kid kills his first man
Though only a teenager at the time, Billy the Kid wounds an Arizona blacksmith who dies the next day. He was the famous outlaw’s first victim. Just how many men…
August 23
August 23
Texas Rangers arrest John Wesley Hardin
Texas Ranger John Armstrong arrests John Wesley Hardin in a Florida rail car, returning the outlaw to Texas to stand trial for murder. Three years earlier, Hardin had killed Deputy…
August 28
August 28
Charles S. Rolls born
Charles Stewart Rolls, the pioneering British motorist, aviator and co‑founder (with Henry Royce) of the Rolls‑Royce Ltd. luxury automobile company, is born on August 28, 1877, in London’s upscale Mayfair…
September 5
September 5
Sioux military leader Crazy Horse is killed
Oglala Sioux leader Crazy Horse is fatally bayoneted by a U.S. soldier after resisting confinement in a guardhouse at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. A year earlier, Crazy Horse was among the Sioux…
October 5
October 5
Chief Joseph surrenders
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce peoples surrenders to U.S. General Nelson A. Miles in the Bear Paw mountains of Montana, declaring, “Hear me, my chiefs: My heart is sick…
October 10
October 10
Colonel George Custer’s funeral is held at West Point
On October 10, 1877, the U.S. Army holds a West Point funeral with full military honors for Lieutenant‑Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Killed the previous year in Montana by Sioux and…
November 21
November 21
“Scientific American” announces Thomas Edison’s “wonderful invention”—the phonograph
On November 17, 1877, the publication Scientific American enthuses about Thomas Edison‘s new invention: the phonograph, a way to record and play back sound. Calling it a “wonderful invention,” the…
