The formal language of his presence at the signing — the accounts that describe his statement before signing — makes clear that he understood what he had accomplished.

He had forced the United States to do something it had not wanted to do.

He had verified with his own eyes that it had actually happened.

Now he was formalizing the agreement.

What the 1868 Treaty Said

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 was a comprehensive document that addressed multiple dimensions of the relationship between the United States and the Lakota people — and, through provisions extended to other signatories, the Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other allied peoples.

The core provisions relevant to the Bozeman Trail conflict were these: the Bozeman Trail through the Powder River Country was closed.