AMERICA WORLD
How Wounded Knee Ended the Plains Wars
A frightened federal response to the Ghost Dance, a camp surrounded by cavalry, and artillery on the ridge led to the killing of hundreds of Lakota people on December 29, 1890.
Wounded Knee was not a conventional battle. It grew from reservation hardship, federal panic over the Ghost Dance, and a disarmament operation that ended in mass killing.
In early January 1891, after a winter blizzard delayed recovery, a civilian burial detail reached Wounded Knee Creek. The dead included Spotted Elk, the ill Miniconjou Lakota leader also known as Big Foot. He had been traveling toward Pine Ridge with his people after the killing of Sitting Bull. Instead, he was among those left in the snow after the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry fired on a Lakota camp. The burial detail placed 146 recovered bodies in a mass grave; more than half were women, children, and elderly people. [2]
On December 29, 1890, the 7th Cavalry killed an estimated 150 to 300 Lakota people at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. No precise total is possible: people died in the initial firing, while fleeing, and from exposure in the storm that followed. Spotted Elk’s band included roughly 120 men and about 230 women and children. Hundreds of federal troops surrounded them, backed by four Hotchkiss artillery guns. [4][5]
Wounded Knee came at the close of decades of federal efforts to confine Plains Native nations to reservations and suppress resistance. It showed how a religious movement, hunger, and official fear could be turned into a military crisis.
The Ghost Dance and Federal Alarm
By 1890, Lakota communities were living with reduced food rations, treaty violations, disease, and the destruction of the bison economy. With movement restricted and reservation resources inadequate, federal rations had become essential to survival. [1][3]
The Ghost Dance offered a spiritual response to those conditions. Its teachings came from Wovoka, a Northern Paiute religious leader who described renewal, the return of the dead, and an end to suffering. Lakota visitors met Wovoka and carried the movement home. For communities facing loss and hunger, the dance offered hope and fellowship. [1][3]
The Ghost Dance was not an organized military revolt. But federal agents and nearby white settlers treated it as evidence that war was coming. President Benjamin Harrison ordered military intervention in November 1890, and Maj. Gen. Nelson A. Miles sent thousands of troops into South Dakota. [3]
The Road to Wounded Knee
On December 15, Indian Agency police went to Standing Rock to arrest Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa Lakota leader. He was shot and killed during the attempt. News of his death spread fear through Lakota communities. [3]
Spotted Elk led about 350 Miniconjou and Hunkpapa Lakota people south from the Cheyenne River Reservation toward Pine Ridge, where he hoped to find protection and mediation. He was seriously ill with pneumonia. [2][4]
On December 28, Maj. Samuel Whitside and detachments of the 7th Cavalry intercepted the group near Porcupine Butte and escorted it to Wounded Knee Creek. The Lakota camped there under guard. That night, Col. James W. Forsyth arrived, took command, and brought additional troops and artillery. [4]
The following morning, the camp was encircled.
A Disarmament Under Artillery
Forsyth ordered the Lakota disarmed on December 29. Soldiers entered the camp, searched tipis, and collected weapons. Four 1.65-inch Hotchkiss revolving mountain guns stood on high ground overlooking the camp and surrounding terrain. [5][8]
During the disarmament, soldiers struggled with Black Coyote over his rifle. He was deaf, and the confrontation became confused. A gun discharged during the scuffle. [6]
The discharge did not lead to a conventional battle between opposing armies. The 7th Cavalry opened rifle fire, and the Hotchkiss guns fired into the camp and surrounding ravines. Lakota men, women, and children fled; soldiers pursued people across the terrain beyond Wounded Knee Creek. [5][8]
Spotted Elk was killed in or near his tent. The force imbalance was evident before the shooting began: a camp composed largely of families had been surrounded by cavalry and artillery and then subjected to a forced disarmament. [2][5]
Deaths, Inquiry, and the Medals of Honor
The Lakota death toll is generally estimated at 150 to 300. The range reflects the difficulty of counting those killed in the camp, during flight, or in the blizzard afterward. [2][4]
Twenty-five U.S. soldiers also died. Historical evidence indicates that many were killed by fellow soldiers’ fire or artillery shrapnel amid the confusion of an encircling formation. [6]
Miles sharply criticized Forsyth’s conduct, suspended him, and sought a court of inquiry. Forsyth was later cleared by the War Department, leaving no senior Army officer formally accountable for the deaths of Lakota civilians. [6]
The Army awarded 20 Medals of Honor to soldiers connected to Wounded Knee, including members of the 7th Cavalry and the 1st Artillery. The awards remain controversial. Descendants, Native advocates, veterans, and members of Congress have supported efforts to rescind them. [7]
Wounded Knee is often described as the end of the armed Plains Indian Wars. That phrase can hide the nature of the event. It was not a final clash between equal forces. It was a killing shaped by reservation hardship, official alarm, military force, and a decision to treat a frightened Lakota community as an enemy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What caused the first shot at Wounded Knee?
The shooting began during a struggle over a rifle held by Black Coyote during the Army’s disarmament of the camp. The weapon discharged amid the scuffle. The available evidence supports a chaotic discharge rather than a coordinated Lakota attack. [6]
How many people were killed at Wounded Knee?
Historians generally estimate that 150 to 300 Lakota people were killed on December 29, 1890, or died soon afterward from wounds and exposure. The victims included many women, children, and elderly people. Twenty-five U.S. soldiers died, and evidence indicates that many were killed by friendly fire. [4][6]
Why are the Wounded Knee Medals of Honor controversial?
Twenty Medals of Honor were awarded for actions at Wounded Knee. Critics argue that the awards honored soldiers involved in the killing of a largely disarmed Lakota camp and should be rescinded. Legislative efforts to revoke the medals have continued. [7]
TIMELINE
Key moments
Sources
- Disaster at Wounded Knee - Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress — Library of Congress
- Wounded Knee Massacre aftermath, South Dakota - Prints and Photographs Division — Library of Congress
- Documents Relating to the Wounded Knee Massacre — Digital History (University of Houston)
- Wounded Knee Massacre — Encyclopaedia Britannica
- 1890: US Cavalry massacres Lakota at Wounded Knee - Native Voices — National Institutes of Health / National Library of Medicine
- Analyzing Sources: Perspectives from Wounded Knee — Minnesota State University System (Pressbooks)
- Wounded Knee Massacre Tarnishes Integrity of Medal of Honor — The War Horse
- On Dec 29, 1890: U.S. Troops Kill Over 250 Lakota in Massacre at Wounded Knee — Equal Justice Initiative
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