December 29, 1890 · Northern Plains Theater
December 29, 1890
The 7th Cavalry surrounded Chief Big Foot's band of 350 Miniconjou Lakota at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Big Foot, ill with pneumonia, had been traveling to Pine Ridge to seek peace. As soldiers attempted to disarm the Lakota, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote struggled to surrender his rifle, and a shot was fired. The 7th Cavalry opened fire with rifles and four Hotchkiss artillery pieces, killing approximately 250–300 men, women, and children. Some victims were found miles away, having been cut down while fleeing.
Commanders