The Washington herald., 1912-04-21
when We Made War Upon Women
Tales of the Battle of Wounded Knee

, a tragic life. Since the days Of Pontiac,
Tecumseh, and Red Jacket. no Indian
has had the power Of drawing TO him
so large q following of his race, or Of
Inspiring It with greater anImosity
against the white race and civilization"
A decision having been reached TO dis
arm the Indians, q considerable body Of
them was rounded up and obliged to go
into camp at Wounded Knee Greek,
twenty miles northeast OF the Pine Ridge
Agency. The tepees were pitched on
the open plain and surrounded on all
sides by soldiers. who comprised eight
troops Of cavalry and a company OF
scouts. In the center Of the Indian camp
1ew white flag as a sign OF peace and
guarantee Of safety. Behind Il was a
dry ravine, and on a slight rise In front
a battery Of four Hotehkiss machine
guns was trained directly upon the In
dian camp.
Shortly after s a. m. the warriors were
ordered to come out Of the tepees and
deliver up their arms. They came for
ward with only about forty old and
rather worthless rifles. Accordingly. a
detachment Of soldiers was sent 10 search
the tepees- They overturned the beds.
drove out the women and children, and
caused much excitement.
Meanwhile. yellow Bird. a medicine
man, was walking about. blowing an
eagle-bOne whistle. urging the warriors
to resist, and telling them that bullets
would be unayailng against the sacred
ghost shirts which all OF them wore.
Suddenly he stopped and threw a hand
full OF dust into the air. when. as II this
were a-signal. q young Indian, Black
Fox. drew a rifle from under his blanket
and fired II al the soldiers. who instantly
replied with volley into the crowd. So
close were they that the volIey must
have killed nearly half the warriors.
The surviving Indians sprang to their
feet. throwing OF their blankets, from
beneath which many of them produced
rifles, and for a few minutes there was
a terrible hand-to-hand struggle, where
every mans thought was TO kill. Those
Indians who had no guns had revolvers
and knives In their belts. and some were
armed with the murderous war clubs
used by the Sioux
The First VoIIey.
At the first voIley the machine guns
opened and sent a storm Of shells and
bullets among the women and children
who had gathered in front OF the tee
pees to watch the spectacle Of military
display. The guns poured in two-pound
explosive shells at the rate Of fifty a
in the camp. The terrific effect OF the
fire may be Judged from the fact that
one woman survivor, Blue Whlrlwind.
received fourteen wounds.
In few minutes 90 Indian men. wom-
en-. and children. with forty soldiers, were
lying dead and wounded. The tepees were
torn down by shells, and some were burn
ing over the helpless inmates. The sur
viving handful Of Indians, flying IN Wild
panic to shelter in the rayine, was pur-
sued by hundreds OF maddened soldiers
and followed up by a raking fire from
the Hotchkiss guns. whicn had been
moved into position to sweep the ravine.
The pursuit was simply a massacre.
Fleeing women. with infants in their
arms, were shot down long after re-
sistance had ceased, and when almost
every warrior was Etretchei dead or
dying on the ground Blind rage and
bloodthirst possessed the soldier. Some
women were shot and killed two miles
frOm the scene Of the encounter. As al
ready stated, sbOu; leo Indian men and
over 10 women ami children were EftIr-
ward found dead IncIIdlng hose who
died later from wounds or exposure the
number of victims was probably close
upon 300.
And yet there was certainly no inten-
ton on the part Of the Indians to precip-
itate a conflict. They meant TO yield,
though they did so with reluctance. Cir
cumstances and the act OF one hot-headed
warrior. provoked TO sudden rage, started
the whole mischief. But what imagina-
BILE excuse could there be for firing upon
groups Of women and children with ma
chine guns?
The firing was plainly heard at the
Pine Ridge Agency, where several thou
sand Indians had encamped for the pur-
pose OF surrendering. When the fugi-
tives, mostly women and children, began
to come in. telling the story of the
slaughter and showing their wounds as
evidence, the Indians believed that It
was the purpose Of the whites first TO
disarm and then to massacre them all.
The result was panic and desperation,
and a series OF fights followed before.
about a fortnight later. peace was
finally made.
On New Years Day, 1891. three days
after the massacre, a detachment was
sent to Wounded Knee to gather up and
bury the Indian dead and bring in the
wounded. Meanwhile. there had been a
heavy snowstOrm, eliminating in bllz-
zard. Bodies OF men, women, and chill
dren were found lying under the snow.
frozen stifT and covered with blood.
Nearly all the warriors were found lying
near where the fight began, but the
women and children were scattered along
for a distance Of two niles from the
scene OF the encounter. A number of
women and children were still alive, but
all badly wounded and frozen, so that
most OF them died after they were
brought in. Four babies were found
alive under the snow, beside their dead
whose last thought had been 10
wrap them in shawls.
Only four children survived the mas
sacre and subsequent exposure. One OF
these. a son OF Yellow Bird, four years
old. was playing on his pony in front Cf
his fathers tepes when the firing began.
He was adopted by Mrs. Lucy Arnold.
a teacher amJng the Sioux Another. a
faby girl. three OF four months oil was
found undei the snow, carefully wrapped
in a shawl. BESIDE her deal mother,
whose bod was rierced with two bull
let's. On her hCsd was a lit:Is cap OF
buckskin, with ali American flag eb-
in bright beadwork. she was
-nly slightly frozen, and soon recovered
on being brought to the agency Gen.
Colby. of the Nebraska State troops,
adopted her, and the Indian women
gave her the name zitkala-NonL meaning
lost bird" RENE BACHE.
A Remarkable Happenings.