History of Dakota Territory, volume III, Part 11

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1146

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Spotted Tail was in reality a distinguished chief and warrior. In fact it is said that Spotted Tail was a warrior and Red Cloud was a horse thief. In the moral code of the Indians there was but little difference between the two, because a successful horse thief was almost as valuable to a tribe as was a successful warrior. All Indian nations respected the courage and ability to successfully steal horses or any other valuable property of an enemy.

As soon as the Government concluded to resort to hostile measures, there was no hesitation and the soldiers were moved with great rapidity to the positions assigned them. General Miles had command of the military department of the Missouri. Gen. John R. Brooke was ordered to take the field with his troops. On November 19th, the first body of soldiers arrived at Pine Ridge and soon there were concentrated there over eight troops, one battalion and several companies. At Rosebud there were two troops of the Ninth Cavalry and other reserves.

SOUTH DAKOTA: ITS HISTORY AND ITS PEOPLE

Between Pine Ridge and Rosebud were seven companies of the First Infantry. Another considerable body was located north of Pine Ridge. At Buffalo Gap on the railroad were three troops and near Rapid City were six troops. Seven companies were near the southern fork of the Cheyenne River, and a short dis- tance further east were three more troops and a squad of Crow Indian scouts. There were also small garrisons at Forts Meade, Bennett and Sully. The object in stationing the troops was to place them in such a position that they would separate as far as possible the different bands of Indians and be in position to strike with greatest effect at the opportune moment. The hostiles first gathered in the Bad Lands under Short Bull and Kicking Bear. . In order to prevent the Indians of Cheyenne River and Standing Rock reservations from reaching the Bad Lands, seven companies were stationed along the Cheyenne River. Within a short time nearly three thousand soldiers were in the Sioux country ready for any emergency. General Miles made his headquarters at Rapid City to be as near as possible to the center of disturbance.

It has been maintained by excellent authorities that the sudden stampede of the Indians to the Bad Lands was not due to their design to concentrate in an attack upon the whites; just the reverse. It was declared by many who were familiar with the plans of the Indians at the time that their flight was due almost wholly to the belief that they were about to be attacked and annihilated by the soldiers, who seemed to be rapidly concentrating at central points. Commissioner Morgan and the leading Indians themselves afterwards declared that this was the view taken by the Indians. While the Messiah craze would have no doubt continued in any event and might, probably would, have been succeeded by an attack on the whites, the rush to the Bad Lands, it was declared, was caused by the fear of an attack from the whites. At this time the Sioux nation numbered about twenty-five thousand individuals and had from six thousand to seven thou- sand warriors. It is a known fact that of this whole number only about seven hundred were concerned in the movement to the Bad Lands. Many of the Christian Indians took no part in the disturbances. Thus the flight to the Bad Lands seems to have been the result of a panic at the appearance of the troops. On the other hand, it is true that the troops were not ordered out until requests for their services had been sent by the civilian authorities. General Miles said that it was not until the civil authorities had lost control and had declared them- selves powerless to preserve peace that the soldiers took the field. During the entire disturbance Commissioner McLaughlin at Standing Rock persistently and consistently maintained that he could control the Indians under his juris- diction without the aid of the troops.

The withdrawal of the Indians to the Bad Lands served to sever every com- munication with the whites and accordingly prevented those who could control them from exerting their good offices. Of course all the bad element fled to the Bad Lands. There Short Bull, Kicking Bear, Sitting Bull, and others, deter- mined upon hostilities, found they could control the semi-hostile masses without interference or hindrance. After the stampede to the Bad Lands had occurred, the reservation as a whole was quiet and orderly. The dances were stopped, the friendly Indians went to their camps or homes and all became comparatively quiet.

SOUTH DAKOTA: ITS HISTORY AND ITS PEOPLE

One of the first steps of the troops and of the Indian agent was to secure the arrest of the leaders in the Bad Lands. In order to accomplish this William F. Cody, well known as Buffalo Bill, who had much influence with all the Indian chiefs, was asked to get in communication with Sitting Bull and to effect his arrest at a convenient time. Mclaughlin, the agent, believed that measures to arrest Sitting Bull or other leaders should not be made at this time, because under the exciting circumstances such an attempt would be misconstrued. He thought that the friendly designs of the whites should first be made known generally to the Indian refugees in the Bad Lands. It was known that Sit- ting Bull had deliberately destroyed the pipe of peace which he had kept in his house since 1881. He announced that he wanted to fight and was willing to die. In the meantime Mclaughlin made himself familiar with the movements of Sitting Bull and the other leaders and made preparations for their arrest at the proper time. Several dates were fixed for the accomplishment of these results, but circumstances compelled postponement.

Finally, in order to prevent Sitting Bull and others from an open act of hostility, McLaughlin determined to arrest him on the morning of December 15th. He planned to effect the arrest with a body of Indian police assisted by a detach- ment of troops, the latter to be placed within supporting distance. It was aimed to arrest him at his house on Grand River at daylight. Red Tomahawk had charge of the Indian police and Captain Fechet had charge of the troops. At daybreak on December 15th, the police and Indian volunteers numbering forty-three, under the command of Bull Head, surrounded Sitting Bull's house. They found him asleep on the floor and arousing him told him he was a prisoner and must go with them to the agency. He expressed his willingness to do so, but upon learn- ing that his friends were gathering to resist he changed his mind and refused to go, calling upon his followers to rescue him from the police and volunteers. At this moment Bull Head and Shave Head of the police were standing on each side of him and Red Tomahawk was guarding him from the rear, while the rest of the police were endeavoring to clear a way through the crowd that had gath- ered. Suddenly Catch the Bear fired and wounded Bull Head in the side. The latter instantly turned and shot Sitting Bull through the body. At the same moment also Sitting Bull was shot through the head by Red Tomahawk. Shave Head received a shot from the crowd and fell to the ground where lay Bull Head and Sitting Bull. Catch the Bear, who fired the first shot, was promptly killed by Alone Man, one of the police. All of this occurred within a few seconds and precipitated a desperate and bloody hand to hand fight between the police force of forty-three men and more than one hundred of the armed and desperate followers of Sitting Bull. The trained police were more than a match for their assailants, whom they drove to a strip of timber near by and then returned and cared for their dead and held the ground until the arrival of Captain Fechet with his reserves. Hawk Man, one of the police, taking desperate chances and being aided by Red Tomahawk, eluded the hostiles and carried information of the engagement to the military authorities. Upon the approach of the soldiers the Sitting Bull warriors retreated to Grand River and thence turned southward across the prairie and Cheyenne River. The troops did not pursue the Indians, believing that nothing could be gained by so doing, and returned to assist in caring for the wounded. This fight, which had lasted but a few minutes, resulted

SOUTH DAKOTA: ITS HISTORY AND ITS PEOPLE

in the death or mortally wounding of six policemen, including the two officers, Bull Head and Shave Head, and in the death of eight of the hostiles, including Sitting Bull and his son, Crow Feet, age seventeen years, and in several wounded. While the battle was in progress, the women of the hostiles attacked the police with knives and clubs, but were easily disarmed and placed in one of the houses under guard. In his report on this engagement Mclaughlin paid the highest praise to the bravery and gallantry of the Indian police. Couriers were sent to the fleeing Indians by Mclaughlin with inducements to come at once to the reservation and surrender and nearly two hundred and fifty promptly complied, one-third still remaining out. The latter in part surrendered a little later by joining Big Foot, or going to Pine Ridge.

On December 18th the Bad Land group of warriors attacked a party of white men on Spring Creek and Major Tucker with 100 troops was sent to their assistance. About this time nearly one thousand Indians who had fled from Pine Ridge upon the appearance of the troops, returned to their homes. At the same time there were about fifteen hundred Indian fugitives camped upon Cheyenne River in the vicinity of Spring Creek.

. The death of Sitting Bull and the dispersion of his band removed one of the most vexatious elements of hostility. However, there remained Hump with a band of nearly four hundred warriors and Big Foot with nearly as many more, all in camp near the junction of Cherry Creek and Cheyenne River. This band had been dancing almost incessantly and were sullen and ready for hostili- ties. The authorities decided at once to get into communication with Hump, and having succeeded in doing so, induced him to dissuade his people from any hostile movement. Hump complied with all his promises and promptly enlisted as a scout under Captain Ewers. This adroit movement was accomplished by Captain Ewers, who still further showed his skill, ability and diplomacy by conducting the northern Cheyennes from North Pine Ridge to Tongue River in Montana, a distance of over three hundred miles, in the most rigid weather and without an escort of troops and without the commission of a single hostile act by the Indians.

The next movement of the authorities was to secure the remainder of the Sitting Bull fugitives who had not come in, but had fled south to their friends and near relatives on Cheyenne River. This was accomplished through the skill and diplomacy of Ewers, Hale and Angel. The movement was under the command of Capt. J. H. Hurst. There remained out a considerable band under Big Foot, whose camp was at Deep Creek, a few miles below the fork of the Cheyenne River. To Colonel Summer was assigned the task of managing this hostile band. Enormous complications were involved in the attempt to circum- vent this body of hostiles. Small bodies of the Indians connected with the band were induced to join the friendly Indians. The majority, however, retreated to the Bad Lands, where they made preparations for battle. This movement was due in a large measure to rumors which reached the Indians that the whites intended to slaughter them. At this time nearly three thousand troops were on active duty in the Sioux country. They were more than sufficient to defeat the hostile Indians in any engagement that might occur.

While it was believed that a battle was imminent, attempts to prevent such finality continued to be made by the white authorities and friendly Indians. On

SOUTH DAKOTA: ITS HISTORY AND ITS PEOPLE

December 27th the entire hostile camp left their stronghold in the Bad Lands and moved toward the agency at Pine Ridge. They were closely followed by the troops, all bodies of which kept within supporting distance of each other. It was at this time that the hostile Indians became divided into friendlies and hostiles, which resulted in an open quarrel between the two factions. Two Strike and his party departed for the agency, while Kicking Bear and Short Bull with the irreconcilables moved farther into the Bad Lands. On Christmas day a body of Cheyenne scouts who were encamped on Battle Creek north of the Bad Lands were attacked by a body of hostiles commanded by Kicking Bear. Several were killed and wounded on both sides, but the hostiles were finally driven off. Attempts were made at this juncture to intercept Big Foot's body of friendlies and they were reached on December 28, a short distance west of the Bad Lands. Big Foot had made no stop, but had continued his march toward Pine Ridge. Upon seeing the troops approach, he raised a white flag and asked for a conference, but was told by Major Whiteside that he must surrender unconditionally at once, which he accordingly did. This band of Indians moved on with the troops to Wounded Knee Creek about twenty miles northeast of Pine Ridge Agency, where camp was struck. At this juncture Major Whiteside was re-enforced by four additional troops of the Seventh Cavalry acting under the orders of General Brooke. The white force now numbered eight troops of cavalry, one company of scouts and four pieces of light artillery consisting of a number of Hotchkiss guns, the total force num- bering 470 men in opposition to a total of 106 warriors, all that remained of Big Foot's band.

The battle of Wounded Knee occurred on the morning of the 29th. The Indians were approached with friendly communications, and they pitched their tents on the open plain and were there surrounded on all sides by the soldiers. They hoisted a white flag as a sign of peace. Not to be deceived, the military authorities made full preparation during the night to suppress the Indians should they show hostilities the next morning. Big Foot himself was ill with pneumonia in his tepee. The next morning when the Indians were asked to deliver their arms, they failed to do so, though they showed no hostile move- ments. The soldiers were directed to search their tents for their rifles. The result was greatly to excite first the women and children and then, in conse- quence, their husbands and brothers. At this juncture, Yellow Bird, a. medicine man, precipitated a hostile movement of the Indians. Apparently on signal, he threw a handful of dust into the air, whereupon Black Fox, a young Indian, drew a revolver that had been hidden in his blanket and fired at the soldiers, who instantly replied with a volley directed at the body of warriors and so near that the fire of the guns almost reached them. At this volley nearly half of the hostile Indians fell to the ground. The survivors sprang to their feet, threw off their blankets and made a desperate resistance in a hand to hand struggle against the troops. Few of the Indians had guns, but nearly all had revolvers, knives and war clubs which were still carried by the Sioux. At the same time the Hotchkiss guns which had been turned on the Indian camp sent a shower of shells and bullets crashing among the tents where the women and children had cautiously gathered to watch the proceedings. This movement upon the defenseless women and children was wholly unnecessary, brutal, indefensible,

SOUTH DAKOTA: ITS HISTORY AND ITS PEOPLE

and served to inflame the surviving male Indians to a furious and desperate resistance. Proper diplomacy could have wholly prevented this unfortunate outcome. Soon nearly all of the male Indians were killed or wounded and the remainder were sent flying off to the ravine that was not far distant. The women and children also made haste to reach the ravine, but were shot down and killed or wounded by the pursuing and maddened soldiers. The pursuit was nothing short of a massacre of fleeing women, helpless children and a few surviving warriors. For a distance of two miles from the camp, bodies of women and children, mangled and bloody, were found during the next few days. Most of the men, including Big Foot, were killed at the camp. This was the bloody and inexcusable outcome of the conference which it was expected would result in the surrender of the Indians on the morning of the 29th. It must be admitted that the conflict was due largely to the mismanagement of the military authorities and to the anger of the soldiers, a number of whom had never before been engaged in open hostilities with the Indians. While it is true that the first shot was fired by an Indian, it is likewise true that the hostile act of Yellow Bird could have been prevented had the right course been taken with the hostiles early in the morning.

In his message to the Legislature in January, 1891, Governor Mellette paid considerable attention to the Indian war. He reviewed, somewhat in detail, all the movements that had taken place down to date. His views are here given. He stated that the hostilities had resulted from a growing discontent among the Indians as a result of their being compelled to change their mode of life and leave the lands; that this discontent had been nurtured by unscrupulous and vicious leaders through the agency of the ghost dance, which, he stated, had been adroitly substituted in the guise of a religious frenzy for the war dance. The war dance, as was well known, was used to incite savages to warfare, but had been forbidden among the Indians by the Government. The insubordination resulting culminated in the collection of bodies of defiant Indians on the out- skirts of the agencies, west of the Missouri River. There they were incited to frenzy and were soon ready for the uprising. Steadily they grew more domi- neering and insolent on the Upper Cheyenne, White and Bad rivers until finally they became openly defiant and at last began pillaging and robbing the settlers and conveying the plunder to a general rendezvous in the Bad Lands between the forks of the Upper White River. The governor stated that the prompt action of the United States troops in breaking up the smaller camps and the early death of Sitting Bull, the real leader of the disaffected, did much to check the uprising at the commencement. He further stated that at the outset the arms and ammunition on hand, consisting of about five hundred stands, were distributed among the settlers adjoining the reservation where the demand was most urgent. There the few settlers became equally well organized for their own protection under the aides of the governor. A little later 1,000 additional stands of arms were secured from the secretary of war. They were likewise placed where they would probably do the most good in emergencies. The governor recognized the valuable and unselfish services of Col. M. H. Day and Col. V. T. McGillicuddy in the Black Hills district, where all the active dem- onstrations thus far had occurred. He noted that Colonel Day had organized a troop of 100 volunteers who for several weeks had patrolled the Cheyenne

SOUTH DAKOTA: ITS HISTORY AND ITS PEOPLE

River opposite the principal hostile camp between Battle Creek and Spring Creek and restrained marauding bands from raids upon the deserted homes and other property of the settlers. This command had three sharp engagements with the Indians near Phinney's ranch and succeeded in totally dividing them. The governor reported that no depredations had been committed by the Indians east of the Missouri River and that he had no apprehension that any would be in that section of the state. However, he expressed the belief that the demand for protection to property from the settlers on the Upper Cheyenne, White and Bad rivers should receive prompt and generous response from the citizens, Legislature and general Government. In a measure, the general Government, according to Governor Mellette, was under obligations to sustain much of the expense, because, in opening the lands to settlers, many whites had been placed in a critical position in the midst of presumed civilization, and for this situation the United States was really responsible. It was therefore the duty of the United States to protect the people, said the governor. However, in case the Government should not do so, then the state must undertake the task and should be provided with adequate means by the Legislature. Governor Mellette noted with some feeling that he was placed in the trying position of being constantly beset with calls for aid and being powerless to render help. He called attention to the fact that the supreme law making body of the state could be lawfully employed in this emergency, and recommended that provisions should at once be made for maintaining a volunteer troop which could .be instantly called into existence for the defense of their firesides near the center of hostility. He insisted that stringent laws should be passed by the nation and the state, pro- hibiting the selling and furnishing of arms and ammunition to the Indians, and should be strictly enforced. Arms in the hands of the Indians, he declared, were a constant menace to the settlers and were an immovable obstacle to the control and civilization of the Indians. He hoped that in the adjustment of the difficulty the customary governmental policy of rewarding the perpetrators of deeds of violence by extra rations and supplies would not be exercised in this instance and hoped that the doctrine of rewards and punishment would be applied among the Indians as it was applied among the white communities. The object of such a step would be to encourage the large mass of Indians who were well disposed and had refrained from hostilities to remain faithful to their obligations to the white people.

A trenchant and notable address on the Indian troubles was delivered at Vermillion in January, 1891, by Rev. W. A. Lyman, who said: "Some think that the red men have been starved into war, others say they have not. In either case the actual responsibility for the slaughter that has taken place must rest upon the whites. Some blame the Government for not keeping faith with the savages. If the charge of perfidy be true, Washington surely is putrid with guilt. It seems to me evident that the responsibility must be shared by the church. If the Government has owed them blankets and beef and other articles which they never secured, the church by covenant, not with Sitting Bull or Red Cloud, but with Jesus Christ, the king of heaven's hosts, has owed them a knowledge of the uses and economy of these articles. If the Government has made the mistake of allowing them firearms, the church has neglected her duty of long since raising them out of the preference of rifles, butcher knives, rat-tail

SIOUX INDIAN GRASS DANCE, ON CHEYENNE RESERVATION, NEAR PIERRE

OVERLAND TRANSPORTATION IN EARLY DAYS FROM PIERRE TO BLACK HILLS Photo taken near Fort Meade, about INS5

SOUTH DAKOTA: ITS HISTORY AND ITS PEOPLE

files and whisky instead of plows, seeders and mowers. If some agents and settlers have cheated them in buying their blankets and rations, the church has cheated them by withholding from them a proper appreciation of the value of these things. If some have stolen from them their regular allowance, the Christian Church has used in dress and travel and many luxuries what should have given them the bread of life and put them out of the power of dishonest agents. There would be no Indians in arms today against the United States flag if the church had seen to it that there were no heathens within our borders. Our Government is composed of a Christian people, therefore the guilt lies on all, but especially upon the church, which is the Christian agency of the Gov- ernment."

It was about this time that a famous speech of Red Cloud concerning the Messiah craze was published in an eastern religious paper. It was as follows: "We felt that we were mocked in our misery; we had no newspapers and no one to speak for us or take our part. We had no redress; our rations were again reduced. You who eat three times each day and see your children well and happy around you, cannot understand what a starving Indian feels. We were faint with hunger and maddened with despair. We held our dying chil- dren and felt their little bodies tremble as their souls went out and left only a dead weight in our arms. We ourselves were faint and the dead weighed us down. There seemed to be no hope on earth and God appeared to have for- gotten us. Some one had again been talking of the Son of God and had said, 'He has come.' The people did not know, they did not care; they snatched at. any hope, they screamed like crazy men to God for mercy. They caught at the promises which they heard he had made."

On New Year's day, 1891, Henry Miller, a cattle herder, was killed by the Indians near the Pine Ridge Agency. He was the only non-combatant killed by the Indians during the campaign. During the whole period of hostilities no raid outside of the reservation was made by the hostiles. Most of the cattle captured were taken because they were necessary for subsistence. Early in January Red Cloud, Little Wound and other immediate followers, would have come to the agency had not Two Strike, Short Bull, Kicking Bear and other hostiles threatened to kill the first one who should depart for the agency. However, from this time forward, in spite of the hostiles, small bands began to desert and return to the agency. In the meantime the troops were moved rapidly to positions where they could check any further hostile demonstrations. A small skirmish occurred on Grass Creek January 3d, and another on Wounded Knee Creek on January 5th. At this stage General Miles successfully made overtures for peace with the leaders so that by January 12th the whole body of hostiles, numbering in all about four thousand, were camped within sight of the agency and had sued for peace. By the 16th of January all had surrendered and hostilities had ended.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume III, Part 11

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1146

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1146