Many erroneous reports attempted to link the Mormons as being instigators of the events, but it was clear that the Mormon people were as caught off guard as anyone else. The only official Mormon reaction that can be found comes from Susa Young Gates, editor of the "Young Women" s Journal," Vol. 1:477--- "Few, if any, of our leading Brethren doubt the probability, of a certain, if exaggerated, foundation for these stories. Our Lord is evidently setting His hand to prepare the scattered remnants of Israel for the great events about to take place."

There are other articles about the Indian Messiah in the Desert News for Nov 10, 1890, and Nov.. 18th, and Dec. 16th and 17th, 1890. -Also many more of them in the Deseret Weekly of this period, and in the "Contributor," Vol. 12:114, and several in Vol. 52 of the "Millennial Star, which will not all be given here. But of special interest is the one in the Deseret News, for No,. 18, 1890, quoting from a Chicago dispatch of Nov. 17, 1890. ,

"General Miles has received from the Post-Adjutant. at Ft. Custer, Montana, a report of Lt. Robertson, who carefully investigated the new religious craze at the Cheyenne Agency. His talks were principally with Porcupine, Apostle of the new religion among the Cheyenne, and with Big Beaver, who accompanied Porcupine on his visit to the new Christ at Walker Lake, Nevada... Porcupine told him that there were several hundred Indians at Walker Lake at the time, including representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapahos, Gros-Ventres, Utes, Navajos, Bannocks, and other strange tribes, -some were white, from a far distance that he did not know."

In 1843 Joseph Smith, the prophet of the Mormon People, related this information to them in the Doctrine and Covenants section 130 verses 14-16:

"I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following:"Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter. I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face."

Eye-witness account of F.K. Upham "It tells how a very righteous young Indian by the name of Porcupine from the Cheyenne’s was, like certain wise men of the East, inspired to make this long pilgrimage to Walker Lake, Nevada, to see their Messiah. He was accompanied by his wife and two other Indians, and, like the wise men of the East, they were very content with the high reward of their journey, for they had seen the Christ!" These sincere accounts sent writers and newspaper reporters scrambling to attach their own interpretation of the events being a widespread "delusion" that once reconstructed would then need to find characters to be labeled the "perpetrators" responsible for causing such a widespread reaction.

Most sources today have changed the story to be based on a Messiah "impersonator," but this is a poor explanation for an event of such historical significance and effectual magnitude. It is a stretch in reason to attribute the widespread movement nondescript "impersonator" causing such a broad effect throughout the whole nation that the United States Army felt it necessary to expand the area of its operations for the first time since the civil war. Historians disagree on many aspects of the circumstances regarding the events. One thing that is agreed upon by those reporting the happenings at Walker Lake is that the majority of the reporters did a very poor job of gathering facts, thereby leading to distorted versions of what actually took place. Much as modern historians do today, writers rushed to fill in the details of the story according to their own interpretations as they thought it should be reported, rather than sticking to the reported versions of what actually happened. A campaign has been waged against the authentic accounts of the story since, to convince American Indian people in public school teachings and history books that their forefathers were foolish and ignorant people and Indian tribes all across the country and from Canada to Mexico were embarrassingly duped by a Christ impersonator. The twisted version now accepted pins the whole event as originating from the imagination of one "Jack Wilson" who is portrayed as a pathetic and lonely dreamer who created a sweeping "Craze" that quickly duped thousands of Indian people to give up much of their previous traditions based on wildly spun interpretations (created by those of the dominant culture).

Unfortunately the truth is that the American Indian’s have been portrayed as ignorant superstitious savages by authors, reporters, historians, etc. but in truth they were anything but. There are many examples of the brilliant minds of the Native Americans. Many were multilingual, able to speak 6 or 7 languages; some could read and write in English as well. Brilliant tacticians such as Chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce, Walkara of the Utes was known as the Napoleon of the desert, and many more examples, too numerous to mention, are in the histories of the tribes.

It is extremely unlikely that the Native Americans of 1890 could have been duped into believing in a hoax of this magnitude. THE NATIVE AMERICANS WERE TOO INTELLIGENT TO HAVE BEEN DECEIVED AS HAS BEEN HISTORICALLY PORTRAYED BY THE DOMINANT SOURCES. Further at this point they distrusted with good reason, and hated the whites to such an extent that it would have been impossible for them to have deceived them. The Jack Wilson story also is easily dismissed in that he was just a man who was limited in his abilities and could not have done what was reported. And so the Jack Wilson story is easily ruled out. The Mormons were just as ignorant as the rest of the country in regards to this incident, in that they had to rely on reports from other news sources. Therefore the theory of the Mormons being behind this is also easily ruled out. SO WHAT DOES THIS LEAVE? A STRANGE AND MIRACULOUS EVENT THAT ACTUALLY OCCURRED WHERE MANY NATIVE AMERICANS SAW AND HEARD IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGES SOMETHING OF SUCH HISTORICAL MAGNITUDE THAT IT NEARLY DEFIES DESCRIPTION.

The Contributor, a Mormon Periodical reported in January 1891 that, "Porcupine’’s story, stripped of the garnishings which newspaper reporters, Catholic priests, post traders, subaltern army officers, and others who have purposely misrepresented it, appears to be one of the utmost importance to the Indian race. He asserts that the burden of his heavenly visitor’s message was to be peaceful; to look with faith to the coming of the Messiah, who would be the Indian’s friend; to believe in the resurrection of the Indians and their regeneration; in the reign of millennial peace on the earth and the conversion of its surface and all its creatures to a condition that is heavenly. He was promised that other messengers should come to the Indians, having power to heal the sick and work miracles among them."

The newspapers of the whole country carried many stories of the event during 1890, including the Deseret News. But there were few who really believed it. They called it "the Messiah Craze" among the Indians. Nevertheless, it received wide attention in the nation’s press because of the Indian "problems" it created. The Indians were so (excited) on at least 16 tribal reservations that General Miles of the U.S. Army found it necessary to make a tour of all army installations in and near these reservations, to see what could be done about all this "agitation" over an Indian Messiah.

DESERET NEWS November 18, 1890: "...The Messiah had promised them that the Whites should be destroyed from off this land, and the land would be given back to the Indians, from whom the Whites had so unfairly taken it, and had broken so many treaties concerning payment for it. In fact, certain government agents found it necessary to have Chief sitting Bull ‘accidentally’ killed to put a stop to his Indian Messiah activities.

"In the Deseret News for Nov. 7, 1890, a St. Paul dispatch is quoted under the title of ‘Indian Messiah,’ as follows: "General Miles is here on his return from his Western tour. He says: ‘I have been in Utah, Montana and Cheyenne Reservations, investigating. You have no doubt heard that Indian tribes are reported to believe that the Messiah has come, who is to restore them to their former glory. . and drive the Whites from the land. I have learned that this belief exists among sixteen tribes. There is no doubt that many Indians who are holding this belief in the Indian Messiah are sincere, and a few have certainly seen some person on whom they look to be that Messiah.

"‘Several small parties of Indians have gone from their tribes to some point in Nevada. There they have been shown somebody disguised as the Messiah and have spoken with him. I am inclined to believe that there is more than one person impersonating this Messiah, as when the Sioux have spoken with him, he replied in the Sioux language. . . and so on, with the representatives of each nation. (Note: based on this account alone, the historically accepted version is easily ruled out of an "impersonator" being responsible)

"General Miles gave his opinion ‘that the Mormons are prime movers in it. It is noteworthy, (says he) that this so-called Messiah tells Indians that when he comes to reign over them, firearms will no longer be used, that he will draw a line behind, which he will gather all Indians, and then he will roll the earth back upon the Whites. This has naturally excited the Indians and large numbers have accepted the new belief. None is more ardent than Chief Sitting Bull, who is intensely Indian in all his ideas. .The argument Indians use is: ‘The Whites have had their Messiah, and the Indians NOW have theirs.’

In the Deseret News for Nov. 8, 1890, an article dated Nov. 4th, taken from a Kansas City dispatch from Ft. Reno, Special, quotes Sitting Bull as follows:

"The Messiah said He had come to save the White Man, but they had persecuted Him, and now He had come to deliver the long tormented Indians. All day Christ instructed them and gave them evidence of His powers. He, Sitting Bull, told his people His story, and asked that Porcupine (one of the Twelve) be sent for to verify it. He (Porcupine) returned with the same tale and presumably all were convinced.

"We have a large number of extracts from the different newspapers (says the editor) on the subject of , ‘The Indian Christ’, claiming to embody the assertions of the aborigines who state they have seen the Messiah and heard Him talk. .That a personage exhibiting super-natural powers has shown Himself...That He showed the marks of spikes having been driven through His hands. He had offered to save the Whites, and they had refused to accept Him, and now the day of the Indians, who are to be restored to ownership of the land, had come. He also taught them to be honest, peaceful, cleanly, and to give up all bad habits." The editor adds: ‘To say the least, it is a wonderful movement, and one is puzzled in endeavoring to account for it.

"He sternly denies General Miles suggested idea that the Mormons are connected with this event: ‘Indeed many Mormons are themselves conjecturing as to the meaning of this extraordinary agitation among the aborigines, and are puzzled to know what it means.’

Millennial Star August 18, 1890, Volume 52:532-535. Eye-witness account of F.K. Upham "It tells how a very righteous young Indian by the name of Porcupine from the Cheyenne’s was, like certain wise men of the East, inspired to make this long pilgrimage to Walker Lake, Nevada, to see their Messiah. He was accompanied by his wife and two other Indians, and, like the wise men of the East, they were very content with the high reward of their journey, for they had seen the Christ!"

"It was possibly in the vicinity of Walker Lake or Pyramid Lake in Nevada. It was in the Mountains where Porcupine found himself with many strange Indians whose language he could not speak, and who, like himself, had come from afar off, - but all had come to see the Christ.

"At sundown the Indians collected in large numbers, and after it became dark He appeared to them, - a large fire being built to throw the light on him. He was not as dark as an Indian nor as light as a white man, and his dress was partly like each. He sat for a long time in perfect silence, with his head bowed, during which time the Indians never moved nor spoke. They were told that if they even whispered, the Christ would know it and be displeased .

"After a time He raised His head, and then Porcupine saw that he was fair to look upon, that His face had no beard, and was youthful, and that His bright hair extended to His waist.

"Porcupine had heard that the Christ of the white man had been nailed to the cross, and looking he was able to see the scars of the nails in the hands of the Indian's Christ when he raised them. In His feet he could not see the marks of the nails by reason of the moccasins, but he was told they were there, and that in His side were spear marks which were concealed by the shirt He wore.

"Porcupine was told that His own coming had, with eleven others, been foretold by the Christ, who had sent for them, and that was why he had involuntarily taken the long journey...

"The Christ spoke to them and took Porcupine by the hand, and told them that they were all His children. He talked to them until it was day, telling them that He had made them, and all the things around them; that in the beginning God had made the Earth, and after a time had sent Him on the earth to teach the people what was right; but the people were afraid of Him, and 'this is what they did to Me.' showing the scars.

"He said, when He found that the children were bad, He went back above, and promised to return after many hundred years. Now the time was up and God had told Him the earth was old and worn out, and had sent Him again to renew it and make things better. He said that all the dead were to be resurrected and brought back to life on this earth, which was too small to hold them all; but He would do away with Heaven and make the earth large enough to hold them all.

"He spoke about fighting, that it was bad, and that Indians must not do it anymore; that the earth hereafter was to be all good and everybody must love one another.

"He said He would send among them those who could heal wounds and cure the sick by the laying on of the hands, and that the good would live here forever, and the buffalo would come back.

"He said it was wrong to kill men of any kind, that if any man disobeyed these teachings, he would be banished from the face of the earth; that the Indians must believe all that He now told them, and not say that He lied, for He would know their thoughts, no matter what part of the world they were in, and they could not expect to deceive Him.

"Among those whom Porcupine saw were some who seemed like white men, but they all seemed good--and all listened and believed what the Christ said to them.

"During Porcupine's stay of many days, the Christ several times repeated these talks and told the Indians that when they returned to their people they must tell them all these things. But He was not all the time visible, and could disappear at will. 'He is here among us tonight and knows all that we are talking about!' said Porcupine. ' - I am sorry to say there are one or two Cheyenne’’s who do not believe what I have said, I wish these and some of you would go back with me and see that I have spoken the truth. When you have seen Christ once, you can see Him in your sleep, that is, if you have shaken His hand; and through Him you can go to heaven and see your friends who are dead. I see Him often in my sleep and He told me there was trouble for the Cheyenne’’s. The next night He came to me and told me that all would be well in the end."

Possibly the most significant event in recent history concerning Native Americans was the visit of the Messiah to Indians gathered at Walker Lake, Nevada -- The true meaning of the Ghost Dance has been obscured by the government and ignorant or designing authors. The only religion that seemed to consider the stories as possibly having merit was certain Mormons, to whom great promises favoring the red men did not seem to be too far out of line.

The Christian teachings of the time led the general American public into the mind-set that it would be unfathomable to conceive that an entire nation of Christian believing people could be completely ignored by an appearance of the Savior. That the Lord would bypass the presumed righteous Gentile peoples of the time and instead visit the humbled and downtrodden people who would not reject Him, the American Indian Israelites, contradicts all purported "experts" of religion, but it makes perfect sense as it relates to Mormon scripture. In 1890 the Mormons were struggling to shrug off the polygamy issue for which they had been persecuted for so long. Many of the Church at that time were selling their souls for that which cankered, that is, that they desired to become part of the worldly nation and gain statehood. But in order to do this first they had to turn their backs on their own religion and deny the teachings of Christ and his Holy spirit. They in turn persecuted those of the Church who still clung to the original tenants of the Church. This literally fulfilled what Porcupine stated. Today, even apostles of the Mormon Church continue to reject Christ’s teachings in plain Book of Mormon scripture and show glaring ignorance as what the Book of Mormon actually says, that the Mormon religion and this land was established for the Native American Israelite people for their inheritance.The Ghost dance

"Among all the tribes which have accepted the new faith it is held that frequent devout attendance on the dance conduces to ward off disease and restore the sick to health, this applying not only to the actual participants, but also to their children and friends. The idea of obtaining temporal blessings as the reward of a faithful performance of religious duties is too natural and universal to require comment."

One statement of the Sioux version is given by the veteran agent, James McLaughlin, of Standing Rock Agency. In an official letter of October 17, 1890, he writes "...They were told that the Great Spirit had sent upon them the dominant race to punish them for their sins, and that their sins were now expiated and the time of deliverance was at hand. Their decimated ranks were to be reinforced by all the Indians who bad ever died, and these spirits were already on their way to reinbabit the earth, which had originally belonged to the Indians, and were driving before them, as they advanced, immense herds of buffalo and fine ponies."

This was looked at by the U.S. army as an opportunity to attempt its first mass deployment of the army resources since the Civil War. Generals could test new weapons, equipment and tactics under field conditions.

The commanding officer at Fort Yates, North Dakota, under date of December 7, 1890, at the time the Messiah delusion was approaching a climax, says, in reference to the disaffection of the Sioux Indians at Standing Rock agency, that it is due to the following causes:

(1) Failure of the government to establish an equitable southern boundary of the Standing Rock agency reservation.

(2) Failure of the government to expend a just proportion of the money received from the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad company, for right of way privileges, for the benefit of the Indians of said agency. Official notice was received October 18, 1881, by the Indian agent at the Standing Rock agency, that the said railroad company had paid the government under its agreement with the Sioux Indians, for right of way privileges, the sum of $13,911. What additional payments, if any, have been made by the said railroad company, and what payments have been made by the Dakota Central railroad company, the records of the agency do not show. In 1883, and again in 1885, the agent, upon complaints made by the Indians, wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, making certain recommendations as regards the expenditure of the money received from the said railroad company, but was in each instance informed that until Congress took action with respect to the funds referred to nothing could be done. No portion of the money had been expended up to that time (December, 1890) for the benefit of the Indians of the agency, and frequent complaints had been made to the agent by the Indians because they had received no benefits from their concessions to the said railroad companies.

(3) Failure of the government to issue the certificates of title to allotments, as required by article 6 of the treaty of 1868.

(4) Failure of the government to provide the full allowance of seeds and agricultural implements to Indians engaged in farming, as required in article 8, treaty of 1868.

(5) Failure of the government to issue to such Indians the full number of cows and oxen provided in article 10, treaty of 1876.

(7) Failure of the government to issue to the Indians the full ration stipulated in article 5, treaty of 1876. (For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1890, the following shortages in the rations were found to exist: 485,275 pounds of beef [gross], 761,212 pounds of corn, 11,937 pounds of coffee, 281,712 pounds of flour, 26,234 pounds of sugar, and 39,852 pounds of beans. Although the obligations of the government extend no further than furnishing so much of the ration prescribed in article 5 as may be necessary for the support of the Indians, it would seem that, owing to the almost total failure of crops upon the Standing Rock reservation for the past four years, and the absence of game, the necessity for the issue of the full ration to the Indians here was never greater than at the present time-December, 1890.)

(8) Failure of the government to issue to the Indians the full amount of annuity supplies to which they were entitled under the provisions of article 10, treaty of 1868.

(9) Failure of the government to have the clothing and other annuity supplies ready for issue on the first day of August of each year. Such supplies have not been ready for issue to the Indians, as a rule, until the winter season is well advanced. (After careful examination at this agency, the commanding officer is convinced that not more than two-thirds of the supplies provided in article 10 have been issued there, and the government has never complied with that provision of article 10 which requires the supplies enumerated in paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of said article to be delivered on or before the first day of August of each year. Such supplies for the present fiscal year, beginning July 1, 1890, had not yet reached (December, 1890) the nearest railway station, about 60 miles distant, from which point they must, at this season of the year, be freighted to this agency in wagons. It is now certain that the winter will be well advanced before the Indians at this agency receive their annual allowance of clothing and other annuity supplies.)

(10) Failure of the government to appropriate money for the payment of the Indians for the ponies taken from them, by the authority of the government, in 1876.

In conclusion, the commanding officer says: "It, however, appears from the foregoing, that the government has failed to fulfill its obligations, and in order to render the Indians law-abiding, peaceful, contented, and prosperous it is strongly recommended that the treaties be promptly and fully carried out, and that the promises made by the commission in 1889 be faithfully kept."

[Following are two telegrams sent from the field by General Miles at the beginning of the trouble.]

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA, December 19, 1890. Senator DAWES, Washington, District of Columbia:

You may be assured of the following facts that can not be gainsaid:

First. The forcing process of attempting to make large bodies of Indians self-sustaining when the government was cutting down their rations and their crops almost a failure, is one cause of the difficulty.

Second. While the Indians were urged and almost forced to sign a treaty presented to them by the commission authorized by Congress, in which they gave up a valuable portion of their reservation which is now occupied by white people, the government has failed to fulfill its part of the compact, and instead of an increase or even a reasonable supply for their support, they have been compelled to live on half and two-thirds rations, and received nothing for the surrender of their lands, neither has the government given any positive assurance that they intend to do any differently with them in the future.

Congress has been in session several weeks and could, if it were disposed, in a few hours confirm the treaties that its commissioners have made with these Indians and appropriate the necessary funds for its fulfillment, and thereby give an earnest of their good faith or intention to fulfill their part of the compact. Such action, in my judgment, is essential to restore confidence with the Indians and give peace and protection to the settlements. If this be done, and the President authorized to place the turbulent and dangerous tribes of Indians under the control of the military, Congress need not enter into details, but can safely trust the military authorities to subjugate and govern, and in the near future make self-sustaining, any or all of the Indian tribes of this country.

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA, December 19, 1890. General, JOHN M. SCHOFIELD, Commanding the Army, Washington, District of Columbia:

Replying to your long telegram, one point is of vital importance-the difficult Indian problem can not be solved permanently at this end of the line. It requires the fulfillment by Congress of the treaty obligations which the Indians were entreated and coerced into signing. They signed away a valuable portion of their reservation, and it is now occupied by white people, for which they have received nothing. They understood that ample provision would be made for their support; instead, their supplies have been reduced, and much of the time they have been living on half and two-thirds rations. Their crops, as well as the crops of the white people, for two years have been almost a total failure. The disaffection is widespread, especially among the Sioux, while the Cheyennes have been on the verge of starvation and were forced to commit depredations to sustain life. These facts are beyond question, and the evidence is positive and sustained by thousands of witnesses. Serious difficulty has been gathering for years. Congress has been in session several weeks and could in a single hour confirm the treaties and appropriate the necessary funds for their fulfillment, which their commissioners and the highest officials of the government have guaranteed to these people, and unless the officers of the army can give some positive assurance that the government intends to act in good faith with these people, the loyal element will be diminished and the hostile element increased. If the government will give some positive assurance that it will fulfill its part of the understanding with these 20,000 Sioux Indians, they can safely trust the military authorities to subjugate, control, and govern these turbulent people, and I hope that you will ask the Secretary of War and the Chief Executive to bring this matter directly to the attention of Congress."

The Indian people know the story well. The following source explains the ignorance and hatred faced by those who had converted to the teachings of the new Messiah, much like the early Christians faced after the crucifixion and ressurection:

"On December 15, 1890, a party of Lakota policemen, acting upon orders of the government agent, killed Chief Sitting Bull while "attempting to arrest him.." This strong leader was held in high regard by the Lakotas. His honor and courage were never in question by his followers, for he was well proven as a statesman, warrior, and respected leader . The latest in a long string of assassinations of prominent Indian leaders, his death was like other leaders who did not conform to what the government considered progressive. The message was clear that if they would murder such a prominent man they would not hesitate to kill again to force implementation of their policies.

" ...newspapers throughout the nation at the time, were calling for the total "extermination" of the Sioux nation, beginning with Sitting Bull. For example, the Minneapolis Tribune after his death, regretted only that he "should have been hung higher than Hamar and with less ceremony than is observed by a Texas lynching party towards a horse thief." As the press whipped-up fear, the fact was lost that Sitting Bull had been residing in friendship and peace with his white neighbors, with his only "crime" taking part in a religious worship, the Ghost Dance, labeled the "Messiah craze" by the press. "

"A frightening lynch mob mentality prevailed, with one North Dakota paper declaring: "The most wholesome way to put the quietus on the Messiah racket is to hang old Sitting Bull, and the other disturbance plotters, for conspiracy..."

"The Lakota people saw the religion as a new hope, and some embraced it with exhilaration. The majority however did not subscribe to the doctrine, and joined the camps of Ghost Dancers only after the appearance of troops on the reservation"

"The PIONEER (publication) has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up with one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth." Ten years later, L. Frank Baum published his children's classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

"Observers at the time held the newspapers accountable for creating a genocidal frenzy and an unwarranted fear in the settlers that could only lead to bloodshed. "Take away the spectacular military display, with the theatrical and almost farcical deploying of troops at a cost of $2,000,000, and we reduce the trouble to a minimum."

"The struggle for the gun was short, the muzzle pointed upward toward the east and the gun discharged. In an instant a volley followed as one shot, and the people began falling. He saw everybody was rolling and kicking on the ground. He looked southeastward and he did not know what he was going to do. He had only one knife. He looked eastward and saw the soldiers were firing on Indians and stepping backwards and firing. His thought was to rush on the soldiers and take a gun from one of them. He rushed toward on the west to get a gun. While he was running, he could see nothing for the smoke; through the rifts he could see the brass buttons of the uniforms; he rushed up to a soldier whose gun rested over Dewey's shoulder and was discharged when the muzzle was near his ear, and it deafened him for a while. Then he grabbed the gun and wrenched it away from the soldier. When he got the gun, he drew his knife and stabbed the soldier in the breast...While Dewey was on this soldier, some other soldiers were shooting at him, but missed him and killed soldiers on the other side. When he got up he ran right through the soldiers toward the ravine, and he was the last Indian to go into the ravine. The soldiers were shooting at him from nearly all directions, and they shot him down...Dewey tried to get to the ravine and succeeded in getting on his feet...Right on the edge of the ravine on the south side were soldiers shooting at the Indians who were running down into the ravine, the soldiers' shots sounded like fire crackers and hail in a storm; a great many Indians were killed and wounded down there...

"When he went to the bottom of the ravine, he saw many little children lying dead in the ravine. He was now pretty weak from his wounds. Now when he saw all those little infants lying there dead in their blood, his feeling was that even if he ate one of the soldiers, it would not appease his anger...The Indians all knew that Dewy was wounded, but those in the ravine wanted him to help them. So he fought with his life to defend his own people. He took his courage to do that - "I was pretty weak and now fell down.' A man with a gunshot wound through the lower jaw had a belt of cartridges, which he offered Beard and asked to try and help them again.

"'When he gave me the cartridges, I told him I was badly wounded and pretty weak, too. While I was lying on my back, I looked down the ravine and saw these women, girls and little girls and boys coming up, I saw soldiers on both sides of the ravine shoot at them until they had killed every one of them."

"He saw a young woman among them coming and crying and calling, "Mother! Mother!' She was wounded under her chin, close to her throat, and the bullet had passed through a braid of her hair and carried some of it into the wound, and then the bullet had entered from the front side of the shoulder and passed out the back side. Her Mother had been shot behind her. Dewey was sitting up and he called to her to come to him. When she came close to him, she fell to the ground. He caught her by the dress and drew her to him across his legs. When the women who the soldiers were shooting at got a little past him, he told this girl to follow them on the run, and she went up the ravine.

"He got himself up and followed up the ravine. He saw many dead men, women, and children lying in the ravine. When he went a little way up, he heard singing; going a little way farther, he came upon his mother who was moving slowly, being very badly wounded. She had a soldier's revolver in her hand, swinging it as she went. Dewey does not know how she got it. When he caught up to her she said, 'My son, pass by me; I am going to fall down now.' As she went up, soldiers on both sides of the ravine shot at her and killed her. 'I returned fire upon them, defending my mother. When I shot at the soldiers in a northern direction, I looked back at my mother and she had already fallen down. I passed right on from my dead mother and met a man coming down the ravine who was wounded in the knee...

"Dewey was wounded so that his right arm was disabled; he placed the thumb of his right hand between his teeth and carried his Winchester on his left shoulder, and then he ran towards where he has heard that White Lance [his brother] was killed. As he ran, he saw lots of women and children lying along the ravine, some alive and some dead. He saw some young men just above, and these he addressed, saying to them to take courage and do all they could to defend the women. 'I have,' he said, 'a bad wound and am not able to defend them; I could not aim the gun,' and so he told the young men this way. It was now in the ravine just like prairie fire when it reaches brush and grass...; it was like hail coming down; an awful fire was concentrated on them now and nothing could be seen for the smoke. In the bottom of the ravine, the bullets raised more dust than there was smoke, so that they could not see one another.

"When Dewy came up into the 'pit,' he saw White Lance upon top of the bank, and was rolling on down towards the brink to get down into the ravine. He was badly wounded and at first was half dead, but later revived from his injuries. When Dewey went into the 'pit,' he found his brother William Horn Cloud lying or sitting against the bank shot through the breast, but yet alive; but he died that night. 'Just when I saw my wounded brother William, I saw White Lance slide down the bank and stand by William. Then William said to White Lance, "Shake hands with me, I am dizzy now"' While they had this conversation, Dewey said, 'My dear brothers, be men and take courage. A few minutes ago, our father told us this way, and you heard it. Our father told us that the all people of the world born of the same father and mother, when any great tragedy comes, it is better that all of them should die together than that they should die separately at different times, one by one...'

"White Lance and William shook hands. Then White Lance and Dewey lifted their brother up and stood him on his feet; then they placed him on White Lances's shoulder. White Lance was wounded in several places and weak from loss of blood, but he succeeded in bearing William to the bottom of the ravine...Dewey said they now heard the Hotchkiss or Gatling guns shooting at them along the bank. Now there went up from these dying people a medley of death songs...Each one sings a different death song if he chooses. The death song is expressive of their wish to die. It is also a requiem for the dead...'At this time, I was unable to do anything more and I took a rest, telling my brothers to keep up their courage.' The cannon were pouring in their shots and breaking down the banks which were giving protection to the fighting Indians...The Hotchkiss had been shooting rapidly and one Indian had gotten killed by it. His body was penetrated in the pit of the stomach by a Hotchkiss shell, which tore a hole through his body six inches in diameter. The man was insensible, but breathed for an hour before he died... "In this same place there was a young woman with a pole in hand and a black blanket on it. When she would raise it up, the soldiers would whistle and yell and pour volleys into it. One woman here spoke to Beard and told him to come in among them and help them. He answered that he would stay where he was and make a fight for them; and that he did not care if he got killed, for the infants were all dead now, and he would like to die among the infants. When he was saying this, the soldiers were all shooting furiously... "Dewey laid down again in the same little hollow and reloaded his gun. The soldiers across from him were shooting at him while he was reloading. While he was reloading, he heard a horseman coming along the brink of the ravine - could hear the foot falls. This man as he came along gave orders to the men which he supposed were to fire on the women in the pit for a fusillade was instantly opened on them...

"The sun was going down; it was pretty near sundown...He saw five Oglala Sioux on horseback. He called them, but they were afraid and ran away, but he kept on calling and going till they all stood still and he came upon them. He went on with them a little way and soon he met his brother Joseph coming toward them on horseback. Dewey asked, 'Where are you going?' Joe answered, 'All my brothers and parents are dead, and I have to go in and be killed, too; therefore I have come back.' Dewey said, "You better come with us; don't go there; they are all killed there,' and the five Oglalas joined with Beard in the same appeal. Now the Oglalas left these two brothers. The Joe got off his horse and told Dewey to get on. Dewey was covered with blood. He mounted the horse and Joe walked along slowly. After a little, a mounted Indian relation came up behind them. The three went together over to White Clay Creek...

"Dewey's little infant, Wet Feet, died afterwards in the next March. This child was nursing its dead mother who was shot in the breast. It swallowed blood and from this vomited and was never well, was always sick till it died."

THE RESULTING SO-CALLED "INVESTIGATION: "There is nothing to conceal or apologize for in the Wounded Knee Battle - beyond the killing of a wounded buck by a hysterical recruit. The firing was begun by the Indians and continued until they stopped - with the one exception noted above."

"That women and children were casualties was unfortunate but unavoidable, and most must have been [killed] from Indian bullets...The Indians at Wounded Knee brought their own destruction as surely as any people ever did. Their attack on the troops was as treacherous as any in the history of Indian warfare, and that they were under a strange religious hallucination is only an explanation not an excuse."...excerpts from an official investigation of Wounded Knee initiated at the behest of Congress, written by General E. D. Scott.

Twenty year old Soldier Hugh McGinnis was in the First Battalion of the Seventh Calvary at Wounded Knee, and was wounded twice. His account reads, in part,: "...fantastic as it sounds, the surrounding troopers were firing wildly into this seething mass of humanity, subjecting us as well as the Indians to a deadly crossfire while the first volley from the Hotchkiss guns mowed down scores of women and children who had been watching the proceedings. Few escaped the merciless slaughter dealt out that dreadful day by members of the Seventh calvalry. There was no discrimination of age or sex. Children as well as women with babes in their arms were brought down as far as two miles from the Wounded Knee Crossing."