1890 : U.S. Army massacres Indians at Wounded Knee
On this day in 1890, in the final chapter of America's long Indian
wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine
Ridge reservation in South Dakota.
Throughout 1890, the U.S. government worried about the increasing
influence at Pine Ridge of the Ghost Dance spiritual movement, which
taught that Indians had been defeated and confined to reservations
because they had angered the gods by abandoning their traditional
customs. Many Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance
and rejected the ways of the white man, the gods would create the
world anew and destroy all non-believers, including non-Indians. On
December 15, 1890, reservation police tried to arrest Sitting Bull,
the famous Sioux chief, who they mistakenly believed was a Ghost
Dancer, and killed him in the process, increasing the tensions at Pine
Ridge.
On December 29, the U.S. Army's 7th cavalry surrounded a band of Ghost
Dancers under the Sioux Chief Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek and
demanded they surrender their weapons. As that was happening, a fight
broke out between an Indian and a U.S. soldier and a shot was fired,
although it's unclear from which side. A brutal massacre followed, in
which it's estimated almost 150 Indians were killed (some historians
put this number at twice as high), nearly half of them women and
children. The cavalry lost 25 men.
The conflict at Wounded Knee was originally referred to as a battle,
but in reality it was a tragic and avoidable massacre. Surrounded by
heavily armed troops, it's unlikely that Big Foot's band would have
intentionally started a fight. Some historians speculate that the
soldiers of the 7th Cavalry were deliberately taking revenge for the
regiment's defeat at Little Bighorn in 1876. Whatever the motives, the
massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and was the last major
confrontation in America's deadly war against the Plains Indians.
Conflict came to Wounded Knee again in February 1973 when it was the
site of a 71-day occupation by the activist group AIM (American Indian
Movement) and its supporters, who were protesting the U.S.
government's mistreatment of Native Americans. During the standoff,
two Indians were killed, one federal marshal was seriously wounded and
numerous people were arrested.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1890 : U.S. Army massacres Indians at Wounded Knee
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52295
1170 : The making of an English martyr
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5640
1845 : Texas enters the Union
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5641
1940 : Worst air raid on London
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7126
#########################################
On this day in 1890, in the final chapter of America's long Indian
wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine
Ridge reservation in South Dakota.
Throughout 1890, the U.S. government worried about the increasing
influence at Pine Ridge of the Ghost Dance spiritual movement, which
taught that Indians had been defeated and confined to reservations
because they had angered the gods by abandoning their traditional
customs. Many Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance
and rejected the ways of the white man, the gods would create the
world anew and destroy all non-believers, including non-Indians. On
December 15, 1890, reservation police tried to arrest Sitting Bull,
the famous Sioux chief, who they mistakenly believed was a Ghost
Dancer, and killed him in the process, increasing the tensions at Pine
Ridge.
On December 29, the U.S. Army's 7th cavalry surrounded a band of Ghost
Dancers under the Sioux Chief Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek and
demanded they surrender their weapons. As that was happening, a fight
broke out between an Indian and a U.S. soldier and a shot was fired,
although it's unclear from which side. A brutal massacre followed, in
which it's estimated almost 150 Indians were killed (some historians
put this number at twice as high), nearly half of them women and
children. The cavalry lost 25 men.
The conflict at Wounded Knee was originally referred to as a battle,
but in reality it was a tragic and avoidable massacre. Surrounded by
heavily armed troops, it's unlikely that Big Foot's band would have
intentionally started a fight. Some historians speculate that the
soldiers of the 7th Cavalry were deliberately taking revenge for the
regiment's defeat at Little Bighorn in 1876. Whatever the motives, the
massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and was the last major
confrontation in America's deadly war against the Plains Indians.
Conflict came to Wounded Knee again in February 1973 when it was the
site of a 71-day occupation by the activist group AIM (American Indian
Movement) and its supporters, who were protesting the U.S.
government's mistreatment of Native Americans. During the standoff,
two Indians were killed, one federal marshal was seriously wounded and
numerous people were arrested.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1890 : U.S. Army massacres Indians at Wounded Knee
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52295
1170 : The making of an English martyr
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5640
1845 : Texas enters the Union
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5641
1940 : Worst air raid on London
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7126
#########################################
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