The Shot Heard Round the West

The Shot Heard Round the West

On the morning of December 29, 1890, Chief Big Foot and the 350 men, women and children who looked to him for guidance awoke to find themselves completely surrounded by military with a line of military on the hillside and orders to surrender all of their weapons to the US military. Chief Big Foot was so sick he could barely stand unassisted. His warriors refused to surrender their weapons--they were already surrounded and the request, to them, was illogical and might place them in danger. They were right. They were in danger.

The warriors were lined up and ordered to bring their guns out of their teepees. They said they had no guns. Forsyth was angry, and impatient. He ordered his soldiers to enter the tepees, the homes of the Miniconjou, and the Hunkpapa refugees, to search for and confiscate all weapons. 

The medicine man, Yellow Bird, sang and danced and called to the people to resist.

Forsyth then ordered his men to search the Miniconjou and Hunkpapa. It was unwise for a white man to lay hands on a Sioux, particularly military men, but they were not even respectful in their search. They were bullying, rough, and insulting. And what happened next was confusing, fast, and deadly. It is believed that a young man named Black Coyote, angry over the rough treatment he received at the hands of a soldier, stood up and said, "This is my rifle, I paid for it, and no one is going to take it from me without paying me for it." He was grabbed by two soldiers.

Then came that horrible moment. A shot was fired. There was a struggle. Who fired the shot was never verified. It was the shot heard round the West. It's source was never identified, but that one shot will never be forgotten.

The massacre began. The peaceful valley was suddenly filled with the screams of women and children. The soldiers on the hill were infuriated that the women and children were escaping in the ravine and pursued them for two miles, shooting them down, making certain that they would all die. It was ghastly. It was torture. It truly was a massacre. Over 200 men, women, children, and tiny babies lay dead in the snow.

A nearby church, still decorated for Christmas was used as a makeshift hospital. Men were hired to bury the dead at $2 per body in a mass grave. The press stayed on, reporting every last horrible detail they could find, propping up the frozen bodies of the dead to take pictures that were later made into postcards and sold to tourists.