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The Ghost Dance |
Wounded Knee Creek
The site of the conflict was Wounded Knee Creek. Wounded
Knee Creek is a branch of the White River in the Black Hills of
South Dakota
Wounded Knee History: The Ghost Dance
Movement
The Wounded Knee massacre occured during a turbulent
time in U.S. history. Native American Indians had been
dispossessed of their lands outnumbered by the white
Europeans and forcibly relocated to inhospitable
reservations. The
Ghost Dance Movement
was a religious and spiritual revival of the Great
Plains Indian tribes. The Medicine Man, or Shaman,
called Wovoka had experienced visions and prophesized
that by performing the Ghost Dance the ghosts, or
spirits of the dead, would re-unite with the living and
bring peace and prosperity to Native American Indians.
The U.S. Government were concerned about the rapid
growth of the Ghost Dance Movement and believed that
Chief Sitting Bull would start an Indian uprising. Their
attempts to arrest Sitting Bull led to his death, which
in turn resulted in the Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee Facts for kids
Interesting facts about the Wounded Knee Massacre for kids are detailed below. The history of
the Wounded Knee Massacre is told in a factual sequence consisting of
a series of short facts providing a simple method of relating the
history and events of the Wounded Knee.
Wounded Knee
Facts for kids
Wounded Knee
Fact 1: The Ghost Dance Movement started in
1888 by Wovoka spread words of hope among the tribes,
especially the Lakota Sioux of the Great Plains.
Wounded Knee
Fact 2: The Ghost Dancers quickly increased
in number. Wovoka was clear that the Ghost Dance was a
peaceful movement and there should be no fighting.
Wounded Knee
Fact 3: Two Sioux chiefs, Grant Short Bull
and Kicking Bear, believed that militant action would
accelerate the removal of the white man from North
America.
Wounded Knee
Fact 4: The
Battle of Little Bighorn
was fought less than 20 years previously. The memory of
the shocking defeat of the 7th Cavalry led
by General George Custer against Chief Sitting
Bull unnerved the US Government who attempted to ban the
Ghost Dance.
Wounded Knee
Fact 5: An attempt was made to arrest Chief Sitting Bull
on December 15, 1890 at the Standing Rock Reservation. A
gun fight broke out and Chief Sitting Bull was killed.
Twenty-eight soldiers were killed and another 30 were
wounded.
Wounded Knee
Fact 6: Fearing further repercussions, Chief
Spotted Elk, also known as Big Foot, led the followers
of Sitting Bull to the "Bad Lands" of Dakota and to the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to seek shelter with Chief
Red Cloud.
Wounded Knee
Fact 7: They were pursued by the U.S. Army
but avoided them for 5 days. During this time Chief
Spotted Elk contracted pneumonia and became extremely
sick.
Wounded Knee
Fact 8: The government ordered that the
Native Indians should be compelled to give up their
weapons, believing that the disarming of the
Indians was the only way to ensure peace.
Wounded Knee
Fact 9: On December 28, the 7th Cavalry,
under the leadership of Colonel James W. Forsyth,
intercepted the ailing Spotted Elk and his people at
near Porcupine Butte and ordered them to camp 5 miles
away at Wounded Knee Creek.
Wounded Knee
Fact 10: Colonel James W. Forsyth ordered them
to make ready to give up their weapons.
Continued...
Wounded Knee
Facts for kids
Wounded Knee Massacre
for kids
The info about the Wounded Knee
Massacre provides interesting facts and
important information about this important event that occured during the presidency of the 23rd President of the United States of America.
Wounded Knee Facts for kids
Interesting facts about the Wounded Knee are continued below.
Wounded Knee
Facts for kids
Wounded Knee
Fact 11: The Native Indians complied with the
request and stacked their guns and knives outside the
tepee of Spotted Elk.
Wounded Knee
Fact 12: The 7th Cavalry had surrounded the
Native Indian camp that consisted of families with young
children and babies. The troops were supported by four
Hotchkiss guns.
Wounded Knee
Fact 13: The Hotchkiss gun
was a type of Cannon consisting of a revolving barrel
machine gun designed to be light enough to travel with
cavalry.
The revolving
Hotchkiss cannon was capable of firing 68 rounds per
minute with a range of 2,000 yards.
Wounded Knee
Fact 14: Chief Spotted Elk had no intention of
fighting the cavalry. There were 500 US troops and Chief
Spotted Elk had less than 100 men.
Wounded Knee
Fact 15: Soldiers entered the camp to collect
the weapons. According to some records, a Shaman named
Yellow Bird began to perform the Ghost Dance.
Wounded Knee
Fact 16: Yellow Bird resisted being searched
by a soldier. A gun went off - and the massacre began.
Wounded Knee
Fact 17: Yellow Bird was shot dead. The
soldiers entered the tepee of the sick Spotted Elk and
he was killed where he lay. Shots were fired at all the
people who desperately tried to escape the carnage. But
the guns kept firing.
Wounded Knee
Fact 18: Soldiers on the hill fired at the
teepees with the Hotchkiss guns. The bodies of men,
women and were scattered for over a mile from the camp
site.
Wounded Knee
Fact 19: After a terrible blizzard that lasted
for three days the frozen bodies of 400 Native Indians
were collected and, without ceremony, thrown in a mass
grave.
Wounded Knee Fact 20:
Army casualties numbered 25 dead and
39 wounded. The Army awarded twenty Medals of Honor and
Colonel James W. Forsyth was promoted to Major General.
Wounded Knee
Facts for kids
Wounded Knee Massacre for kids - President Benjamin Harrison Video
The article on the Wounded Knee provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following
Benjamin Harrison video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 23rd American President whose presidency spanned from March 4, 1889 to March 4, 1893.
Wounded Knee
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Interesting Facts about Wounded Knee for kids and schools
●
Summary of the Wounded Knee Massacre in US history
●
The Wounded Knee, a major
event in US history
●
Benjamin Harrison Presidency from March 4, 1889 to March 4, 1893
●
Fast, fun, interesting
facts about the Wounded Knee
Massacre
●
Foreign & Domestic
policies of President Benjamin Harrison
● Benjamin Harrison Presidency and Wounded Knee
Massacre for schools,
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