Wounded Knee, much like Sand Creek, is one of theose propaganda things that doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Fact of the matter is, the Sioux were itching for a fight and the day before, they were waving their Winchesters (thank you BIA) in defiance of the troops. The day of the fight, when the troops were ordered to search the lodges for said ordnance, the squaws had hidden the beneath their blankets and began passing them out to the braves when the medicine man began haranguing them to open fire because the troopers' bullets wouldn't harm them.
More than half the casualties were women and children. No doubt the Sioux young braves were itching for a fight, but that battle was a botched massacre. The leadership knew it at the time. I do not believe it was intended to be a massacre, but that was the result.
Wounded Knee, much like Sand Creek, is one of theose propaganda things that doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Fact of the matter is, the Sioux were itching for a fight and the day before, they were waving their Winchesters (thank you BIA) in defiance of the troops. The day of the fight, when the troops were ordered to search the lodges for said ordnance, the squaws had hidden the beneath their blankets and began passing them out to the braves when the medicine man began haranguing them to open fire because the troopers' bullets wouldn't harm them.
ReplyDeleteMore than half the casualties were women and children. No doubt the Sioux young braves were itching for a fight, but that battle was a botched massacre. The leadership knew it at the time. I do not believe it was intended to be a massacre, but that was the result.
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