Americans to abandon their nomadic lifestyle. In April 1875, another setback occurred to Grant's policy. The U.S. Army led by Lt. Austin Henly massacred 27 Cheyenne Indians, including 19 men, and 8 women and children, on the Sappa Creek, in Kansas. With the lure of gold discovered in the Black Hills and the westward force of Manifest Destiny, white settlers trespassed on Sioux protected lands used for religious and marital ceremonies. Red Cloud reluctantly entered negotiations on May 26, 1875, but other Sioux chiefs readied for war. Grant told the Sioux leaders to make "arrangements to allow white persons to go into the Black Hills." Antagonistic toward Native American culture, Grant told them their children would attend schools, speak English, and prepare "for the life of white men." On November 3, 1875, Grant held a meeting at the White House and, under advice from Sheridan, agreed not to enforce keeping out miners from the Black Hills, forcing Native Americans onto the Sioux reservation. Sheridan told Grant that the U.S. Army was undermanned and the territory involved was vast, requiring great numbers of soldiers to enforce the treaty. During the Great Sioux War that started after Sitting Bull refused to relocate to agency land, warriors led by Crazy Horse massacred George Armstrong Custer and 268 of his men at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The slaughter took place during the Centennial, and the Indian victory was announced to the nation on July 4, while angry white settlers demanded retribution. Grant castigated Custer in the press, saying "I regard Custer's massacre as a sacrifice of troops, brought on by Custer himself, that was wholly unnecessary—wholly unnecessary." Previously, Custer had infuriated Grant when he testified against Grant's brother Orville during a House investigation into trading post graft on March 1, 1876. In September and October 1876, Grant persuaded the tribes to relinquish the Black Hills. Congress ratified the agreement three days before Grant left office in 1877. Election of 1872 and second term Grant's first administration was mixed with both success and failure. In 1871, to placate reformers, he created the America's first Civil Service Commission, chaired by reformer George William Curtis. The Liberal Republicans, composed of reformers, men who supported low tariffs, and those who opposed Grant's prosecution of the Klan, broke from Grant and the Republican Party. The Liberals, who personally disliked Grant, detested his alliance with Senator Simon