Okla-homey
12/29/2006, 06:35 AM
December 29, 1890 U.S. Army massacres Sioux at Wounded Knee
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/9192/2006323005752341057_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006323005752341057)
116 years ago today, in the tragic final chapter of America's long war against the Plains Indians, the U.S. Army kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/5946/knee062sq.jpg
Tensions had been running high on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota for months because of the growing popularity of a new Indian spiritual movement known as the Ghost Dance. Many of the Sioux at Pine Ridge had only recently been confined to reservations after long years of resistance, and they were deeply disheartened by the poor living conditions and deadening tedium of reservation life.
The Ghost Dance movement taught that the Indians were defeated and confined to reservations because they had angered powerful spirits by abandoning their traditional ways.
Proponents of the Ghost Dance movement believed if they practiced the Ghost Dance ritual and rejected white ways; the spirits would create the world anew; destroy the unbelievers; bring back warriors who had been killed in battle; and the massive herds of buffalo on which their culture had been dependent before being defeated and confined to the rez.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/9594/kneenativeamericansp3650hm.jpg
1889 image of members of the Minnicongou band of the Sioux nation. They would die at Wounded Knee a year later.
By late 1890, Pine Ridge Indian agent James McLaughlin was alarmed by the movement's increasing influence and its prediction that all non-believers--presumably including whites--would be wiped out. McLaughlin telegraphed a warning to Washington, D.C. that: "Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and crazy. We need protection now."
While waiting for the Army to arrive, McLaughlin attempted to arrest Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux chief, who he mistakenly believed was a Ghost Dance supporter. U.S. authorities killed Sitting Bull during the arrest, increasing the tensions at Pine Ridge rather than defusing them.
On December 29, two squadrons of the the 7th Cavalry Regiment under Colonel James Forsyth surrounded a band of Ghost Dancers under the Sioux Chief Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek and demanded they surrender their weapons.
Big Foot and his followers had no intentions of attacking anyone, but they were distrustful of the army and feared they would be attacked if they relinquished their guns.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/8710/kneeforsythweb9jo.jpg
Col James Forsyth photographed as a cavalry captain during the Civil War
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/3593/kneeforsyth20james20william3li.jpg
He would retire years after Wounded Knee a major general
Nonetheless, the Sioux agreed to surrender and began turning over their guns. As that was happening, a scuffle broke out between an Indian and a soldier, and a shot was fired. Though no one is certain which side fired it, the ensuing melee was quick and brutal.
Without arms and badly outnumbered, the Sioux were reduced to hand-to-hand fighting with knives, and they were cut down in a withering rain of bullets, many coming from the army's rapid-fire breech-loading 1.65" Hotchkiss guns.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/2404/kneefig214jq.jpg
Hotchkiss Mountain Gun. The Army brought a four gun section. These pieces could be operated by a crew of two and were capable of firing 6 rounds per minute. The projectile used at Wounded knee was "canister," which was a soda can-sized round filled with 25 .58 caliber lead musketballs which essentially functioned like giant shotgun shells. They were devastating against personnel targets.
By the time the soldiers withdrew, 146 Indians were dead (including 44 women and 18 children) and 51 wounded. The 7th lost 25 dead and 39 wounded.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/9218/kneeyelobird39hp.jpg
Yellow Bird lies dead after the massacre. The rifle was placed across his body as a prop by the photographer.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/6725/kneenativeamericansp3670id.jpg
Almost a week after the massacre, the bodies of the dead Sioux were hauled off and buried in a mass grave.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/8160/2006364636187022666_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006364636187022666)
Although sometimes referred to as a battle, the conflict at Wounded Knee is best seen as a tragic and avoidable massacre. Surrounded by heavily armed troops, it is highly unlikely that Big Foot's band would have deliberately sought a confrontation.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/4440/kneewoundedknee0qh.jpg
Memorial marker placed by surviving Sioux on the mass grave on the Pine Bluff Reservation.
http://aycu25.webshots.com/image/9464/2006371391043556559_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006371391043556559)
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 Army's massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and was the final major confrontation in America's deadly and genocidal war against the Plains Indians.
Epilogue:
Today, the Pine Ridge Reservation remains one of the most impoverished regions in the United States. In case you're wondering, tribal gaming is not the answer for these people. This is largely because the area is too remote and "off the beaten path," thus making it impractical to build profitable gaming facilities on the Pine Ridge Rez.
In the meantime, the people suffer from a lack of resources and opportunities as too many succumb to the destructive temptations of alcohol and drugs as many attempt to numb themselves from the devastating lack of hope.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/6848/2003843265933849878_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003843265933849878)
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/7724/2003852795873972587_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003852795873972587)
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/7582/2003823835080099675_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003823835080099675)
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/6848/2003868562833930662_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003868562833930662)
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/5942/2005027995865475563_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005027995865475563)
http://aycu28.webshots.com/image/9307/2004448571597767092_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004448571597767092)
A pretty good read on the incident
http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/8583/insane7zo1gs.jpg
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/9192/2006323005752341057_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006323005752341057)
116 years ago today, in the tragic final chapter of America's long war against the Plains Indians, the U.S. Army kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/5946/knee062sq.jpg
Tensions had been running high on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota for months because of the growing popularity of a new Indian spiritual movement known as the Ghost Dance. Many of the Sioux at Pine Ridge had only recently been confined to reservations after long years of resistance, and they were deeply disheartened by the poor living conditions and deadening tedium of reservation life.
The Ghost Dance movement taught that the Indians were defeated and confined to reservations because they had angered powerful spirits by abandoning their traditional ways.
Proponents of the Ghost Dance movement believed if they practiced the Ghost Dance ritual and rejected white ways; the spirits would create the world anew; destroy the unbelievers; bring back warriors who had been killed in battle; and the massive herds of buffalo on which their culture had been dependent before being defeated and confined to the rez.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/9594/kneenativeamericansp3650hm.jpg
1889 image of members of the Minnicongou band of the Sioux nation. They would die at Wounded Knee a year later.
By late 1890, Pine Ridge Indian agent James McLaughlin was alarmed by the movement's increasing influence and its prediction that all non-believers--presumably including whites--would be wiped out. McLaughlin telegraphed a warning to Washington, D.C. that: "Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and crazy. We need protection now."
While waiting for the Army to arrive, McLaughlin attempted to arrest Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux chief, who he mistakenly believed was a Ghost Dance supporter. U.S. authorities killed Sitting Bull during the arrest, increasing the tensions at Pine Ridge rather than defusing them.
On December 29, two squadrons of the the 7th Cavalry Regiment under Colonel James Forsyth surrounded a band of Ghost Dancers under the Sioux Chief Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek and demanded they surrender their weapons.
Big Foot and his followers had no intentions of attacking anyone, but they were distrustful of the army and feared they would be attacked if they relinquished their guns.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/8710/kneeforsythweb9jo.jpg
Col James Forsyth photographed as a cavalry captain during the Civil War
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/3593/kneeforsyth20james20william3li.jpg
He would retire years after Wounded Knee a major general
Nonetheless, the Sioux agreed to surrender and began turning over their guns. As that was happening, a scuffle broke out between an Indian and a soldier, and a shot was fired. Though no one is certain which side fired it, the ensuing melee was quick and brutal.
Without arms and badly outnumbered, the Sioux were reduced to hand-to-hand fighting with knives, and they were cut down in a withering rain of bullets, many coming from the army's rapid-fire breech-loading 1.65" Hotchkiss guns.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/2404/kneefig214jq.jpg
Hotchkiss Mountain Gun. The Army brought a four gun section. These pieces could be operated by a crew of two and were capable of firing 6 rounds per minute. The projectile used at Wounded knee was "canister," which was a soda can-sized round filled with 25 .58 caliber lead musketballs which essentially functioned like giant shotgun shells. They were devastating against personnel targets.
By the time the soldiers withdrew, 146 Indians were dead (including 44 women and 18 children) and 51 wounded. The 7th lost 25 dead and 39 wounded.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/9218/kneeyelobird39hp.jpg
Yellow Bird lies dead after the massacre. The rifle was placed across his body as a prop by the photographer.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/6725/kneenativeamericansp3670id.jpg
Almost a week after the massacre, the bodies of the dead Sioux were hauled off and buried in a mass grave.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/8160/2006364636187022666_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006364636187022666)
Although sometimes referred to as a battle, the conflict at Wounded Knee is best seen as a tragic and avoidable massacre. Surrounded by heavily armed troops, it is highly unlikely that Big Foot's band would have deliberately sought a confrontation.
http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/4440/kneewoundedknee0qh.jpg
Memorial marker placed by surviving Sioux on the mass grave on the Pine Bluff Reservation.
http://aycu25.webshots.com/image/9464/2006371391043556559_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006371391043556559)
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 Army's massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and was the final major confrontation in America's deadly and genocidal war against the Plains Indians.
Epilogue:
Today, the Pine Ridge Reservation remains one of the most impoverished regions in the United States. In case you're wondering, tribal gaming is not the answer for these people. This is largely because the area is too remote and "off the beaten path," thus making it impractical to build profitable gaming facilities on the Pine Ridge Rez.
In the meantime, the people suffer from a lack of resources and opportunities as too many succumb to the destructive temptations of alcohol and drugs as many attempt to numb themselves from the devastating lack of hope.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/6848/2003843265933849878_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003843265933849878)
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/7724/2003852795873972587_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003852795873972587)
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/7582/2003823835080099675_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003823835080099675)
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/6848/2003868562833930662_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003868562833930662)
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/5942/2005027995865475563_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005027995865475563)
http://aycu28.webshots.com/image/9307/2004448571597767092_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004448571597767092)
A pretty good read on the incident
http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/8583/insane7zo1gs.jpg