Across the Fence: Ms. Goodale and the Ghost Dance War (Part II of III)

Variously called the "Messiah Craze" and the "Ghost Dance Craze," this new religion stirred the passions of a small minority of the roughly 25,000 Sioux who were located on the Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, Crow Creek and Standing Rock reservations.

While the basic premise of the religious movement was relatively the same at each camp, there were some ceremonial differences and varying beliefs in what the coming Messiah would accomplish. However, the common thread among all the bands was that the religion was one of non-violence.

Since 1864, the Indians of the plains had been at war with the settlers, the railroads and the military as their hunting grounds had been diminished, the buffalo decimated and ever increasing territory had been wrestled away from the tribes by treaties filled with empty promises. The words of an unnamed Indian have often been recorded: "They made us many promises but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land and they took it."

Except for a few significant victories such as the Fetterman fight and the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the plains tribes, especially the Cheyenne and the Sioux, had learned that armed conflict was futile. Since Custer's defeat in 1876 the army's winter campaigns had ruthlessly and methodically pursued those "hostiles" who refused to be held on reservations and gradually, camp by camp, their horses and families were killed, their supplies destroyed and their lodges burned until surrender was their only choice. Most all of the leaders of those tribes realized the futility of continued armed resistance and were ready for peace. They knew that they could not triumph over the whites by their own strength but perhaps a miracle would be their salvation. This is what the new religion offered.

The Ghost Dance religion was nothing new in 1889, having been practiced among the Western Pacific tribes since the 1870s. This new religion, the second coming of a Messiah who had been betrayed and killed by the whites, would come to avenge the Indian and restore them to their original place across the whole expanse of the great plains. The new religion taught that their long dead ancestors would return, thus restoring their numbers to a time before the white man's disease and greed had taken so many away. The new religion taught that the white man would simply disappear and the grasses of the plains would be restored and the buffalo would return in numbers sufficient to feed, clothe and shelter all the people as before.

When Good Thunder, one of Red Clouds ambassador's to Wovoka, returned from Nevada he was arrested for preaching this new religion and placed in the guardhouse at the Rosebud reservation. Ms. Goodale visited with him on her way to the Pine Ridge agency and wrote hurried notes as he told of his meeting: "We traveled three years [months?] to find the Christ. On a broad prairie covered with Indians I saw him at last, a man of surpassing beauty, with long yellow hair, clad in a blue robe. He did not look at us or speak, but read our thoughts and answered them without words. I saw the prints of the nails in his hands and feet. He said that the crying of the Indians had sounded loud in his ears. He would come to them tomorrow. Then they would be with him in Elysium, [paradise] living in skin tents and hunting the buffalo. Three birds – an eagle, a hawk and a dove – attended him."

The fervor surrounding this new religion and the promise of a Messiah was quickly adopted by several Sioux holy men who modified the teachings of Wovoka and elaborated on the religious ceremonies to include the Ghost Dance. Short Bull and Kicking Bear were among the more ardent followers of the new religion. Short Bull was one of the ambassadors sent to Nevada to meet the prophet Wovoka and was himself regarded by many of his followers to be the "Messiah."

While the various agents and the U.S. Army attempted to squelch the outbreak of this religious ceremony, those who practiced the religion argued that they should be granted the same privileges and protection as those of the scattered chapels of the Christian Dakotas.

However, with very few exceptions, the white community, the Army and the government viewed the ceremonies as a prelude to an all out Indian uprising and unreasonable panic prevailed. By mid-December 1890 more than 3,000 U.S troops were stationed in and around Rushville, Neb., and across the South Dakota/Nebraska border near the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations.

In Congress, Sen. Voorhees of Indiana petitioned for the distribution of much needed, one hundred thousand rations for the Sioux who were then starving as a result of the reduced rations and the severe drought of the past years. His motion failed in favor of South Dakota's Gov. Millett's request of arms and ammunition for the citizens of Rushville and Gordon, Nebraska to protect themselves from the anticipated attack.

As might be expected, the increased attempts to shut down the Ghost Dance religion by force was met with resistance from those who practiced the religion. In an attempt to force compliance the agents of the various reservations cut off the rations of beef and other foodstuffs. In retaliation, the already starving Indians began to raid the surrounding settlements stealing cattle and supplies wherever they were found and destroying property that was of no use to them.

Most all of the settlers in the region, many of whom were mixed-blood, had taken refuge in nearby towns and had abandoned their homes and livestock. Fortunately no human blood was shed during these raids. However, these actions further convinced the military and the general population of whites that war was inevitable.

While the numbers of troops in and around Rushville increased and supplies for the men and horses of the military were being stockpiled for a winter siege, the Indians also began digging in for what they believed would be armed conflict. Efforts for negotiations consistently failed because those who practiced the religion refused to abandon their beliefs and the military refused to believe that the Ghost Dance was not a call for war. It is only natural that as the military increased their forces, bringing in more troops, canons and Hotchkiss guns, the Sioux would increase their preparations for defense.

From mid-November through the last days of December, eastern newspaper reporters would send daily dispatches to their editors. In what was clearly sensationalist reporting, news items were often inaccurate and many times simply false. The Rev. Thomas L. Riggs, who had spent his entire life among the Sioux wrote, "...that not one in a hundred of our western Sioux had any thought of making war against the whites. It was in very truth a newspaper war."

The great Sioux leader, Sitting Bull, was one of the last among the Sioux to acknowledge the new religion and support those who participated in the Ghost Dance though he himself was not an active participant. His support contributed in part to his arrest and tragic killing.

Sitting Bull and other leaders among the Sioux shared a similar view of the Ghost Dance religion, a view expressed by Little Wound who said, "If this is something good, we ought to have it; if it is not, it will fall to the ground of itself."

Intertribal conflict increased over the killing of Sitting Bull and between those who embraced the Ghost Dance religion and those who did not. Escalating military presence created unrest and panic among some of the Sioux and many, especially those who were strong followers of the new religion, fled north toward the safety of the rugged Black Hills while others joined Spotted Elk's [Big Foot's] small and ragged band of Miniconjou Sioux as they traveled to their own Cheyenne River Agency.

During their trek they were overtaken by Col. Sumner's command and placed under arrest on suspicion of being "hostiles." Col. Sumner intended to march them to Fort Meade where they would be held as prisoners. However, the Sioux camp was left without a guard and under the cover of darkness Chief Big Foot and his followers fled toward the Bad Lands.

When Big Foot's band reached Wounded Knee Creek on the evening of Dec. 28 they were intercepted and held captive by Maj. Whitside's command. Whitside sent for reinforcements and was joined by Col. James W. Forsyth with additional troops of the Seventh Cavalry along with four Hotchkiss guns. Four hundred and seventy troops of Cavalry and Infantry now surrounded a pitiful camp of frightened, weary and hungry men, women and children numbering less than four hundred in all.

At this time the "Ghost Dance War" had yielded no casualties. This was soon to change.

Ms. Goodale wrote, "A large cedar had been set up in the chapel for day to day services and distribution of gifts to the several congregations now encamped at Pine Ridge. We were filling candy-bags on the morning of the 29th of December, when swift couriers on horse-back brought sensational news of the slaughter at Wounded Knee..."

M. Timothy Nolting is an award-winning Nebraska columnist and freelance writer. Contact him via email at [email protected]