A painting of the Killdeer Mountain Conflict of 1864 by Carl Boeckman.
________________________
ENDNOTES:
General
Sully’s 1864 Punitive Campaign
Conflicts In Dakota Territory
By Dakota Wind
KILLDEER, N.D. – “Four Horns was shot in the Killdeer Battle between Sioux and General
Sully’s troops…some time after the fight, his daughter cut out the lead bullet,”
One Bull said to Colonel Alfred Welch on hot July day in 1934 at Little Eagle,
S.D. “The report [that] the soldiers killed hundreds of Indian dogs is untrue,”
said One Bull, “because Indian dogs, half wild creatures, would follow the
Indians or run away long before soldiers would come up within range.[i]
The Killdeer Mountain
conflict occurred on July 28, 1864. Sully was under orders to punish the Sioux
in another campaign following the September, 1863 massacre of Dakȟóta and
Lakȟóta peoples at Pa ÍpuzA Napé Wakpána
(Dry Bone Hill Creek), Whitestone Hill.[ii]
The Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta knew
Killdeer Mountain as Taȟčá Wakútepi (Where They Hunt/Kill Deer), Killdeer. The
hunting there was good and dependable, and the people came there regularly, not
just to hunt but to pray as well. The plateau rises above the prairie steppe
allowing for a fantastic view of the landscape, and open sky for those who came
to pray.
A hand-tinted photo of Matȟó Watȟákpe by Frank Fiske.
Matȟó Watȟákpe (Charging Bear; John
Grass), led the Sihásapa (Black Sole Moccasin; Blackfeet Lakȟóta) on the
defensive at Killdeer. The Sihásapa had nothing to do with the 1862 Minnesota
Dakota Conflict. “In this surprise attack the Indians lost everything… soldiers
destroyed tons of food, etc.,” Matȟó Watȟákpe told Welch, and added
that great suffering followed the fight and hatred against the whites
grew.[iii]
The Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta saw
General Sully’s approach from miles away, his march put a great cloud of dust
into the sky. Sully formed his command in to a large one mile square, and under
his command was a detachment of Winnebago U.S. Indian Scouts, traditional
enemies of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires; Great Sioux Nation). A war
party of thirty warriors had tussled with the Winnebago two days before Sully’s
arrival.
In Robert Larson's take on the Killdeer Mountain conflict, the Teton are overconfident and Inkpaduta was the chief who organized the defense against Sully.
Historian Robert Larson
describes July 28, 1864, nearly perfectly, “…Sully’s five mile march to reach
the large Sioux village was a tense and uncomfortable one. Even though it was
morning, the day would be hot and dry; the tense summer heat had already
thinned the grass and muddied the water holes. On every hill along the valley
at the south end of the village were clusters of mounted warriors.”[iv]
The Dakȟóta under ĺŋkpaduta
(Scarlet Point) had been engaged with soldiers since the Minnesota Dakota
Conflict of 1862. They had fled west towards Spirit Lake when General Sully and
his command caught up to them at Big Mound. The Huŋkphápȟa Lakȟóta under Phizí
(Gall) had crossed the Mníšoše (Missouri River) in search of game; the heat and
drought had driven game from the traditional their hunting grounds. Sibley’s
arrival and pursuit of the Dakȟóta and Lakȟóta towards the Mníšoše marked the
first U.S. martial contact against the Huŋkphápȟa.
Tačháŋȟpi Lúta pictured here in his B.I.A. police uniform. "Sitting Bull was my friend," he said, "I was under orders...I killed him..."
Tačháŋȟpi Lúta (Red Tomahawk),
infamously known for his part in Sitting Bull’s death years later, recalled the
Sibley Campaign, “There was a shallow lake south of the hills and about where
Dawson now stands. That was fine buffalo country. The buffalo would get into
this lake and mire down so they could not get out. We went there that time to
drive them into the lake and get meat and hides. While we were there the
Santees came along.”
Tačháŋȟpi Lúta then referred
to the ĺsaŋyathi (Santee) as “hostile,” but that the Huŋkphápȟa camped with
them and joined together in the hunt. He doesn’t detail how the fight began at
Big Mound, only that Sibley pursued them to the Mníšoše. The warriors held the
attention of the soldiers, which allowed the Lakȟóta two days to cross the
river. The ĺsaŋyathi under ĺŋkpaduta and Wakhéye Ská (White Lodge) broke off
and turned north.
ĺŋkpaduta pictured here. After the Little Bighorn fight he went into exile in Canada and died there in 1881.
After the escape at Apple
Creek, ĺŋkpaduta and Wakhéye Ská moved their camps in an arc, first northerly,
then back east and south, and kept a respectable distance between the Isáŋyathi
and Sibley’s retreat. Then the Isáŋyathi journeyed to Pa ÍpuzA Napé Wakpána to make camp and hunt with the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna the following month. Sully found the camp
and slaughtered as many as 200 and took over 150 captives, mostly women and
children in both cases.
After the Dakȟóta split from
the Lakȟóta, “we went to cross the river. We were not afraid,” explained Tačháŋȟpi
Lúta, “We did not lose any of our people when we crossed.”[v] He
admitted to being a part of the party who waited the night through and then
attacked and killed two soldiers.
Here's a reconstruction of the Apple Creek conflict. The map comes from a survey of the Missouri River in the 1890s.
The late Delma Helman, a Huŋkphápȟa
elder from Standing Rock, recalled the story of the Mníšoše crossing, “The
soldiers chased us into the river. We cut reeds to breathe underwater and held
onto stones to keep submerged until nightfall.” After the vesper of sunset, they
emerged from the river safely onto Burnt Boat Island (later called Sibley Island).[vi]
The Sibley campaign was the
Huŋkphápȟa’s first encounter with U.S. soldiers, Sully’s assault at Killdeer
was the second. Sitting Bull’s own pictographic record testifies to his own
portrayal, not as a warrior but as a medicine man, counting coup and stealing a
mule from Sibley’s wagon train in July, 1863.[vii]
Sitting Bull pictographed his part in the Big Mound conflict in which he stole a mule from Sully and counted coup on one of the men.
Historian Robert Utley
estimates that there were perhaps as many as 1400 lodges at Taȟčá Wakútepi. It
was a sizable village consisting of Huŋkphápȟa, Sihásapa, Mnikȟówožu,
Itázipčho, Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, and Isáŋyathi. Utley paints the Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta
in overconfident tones: “they did not order the lodges packed,” explains Utley,
“nor did they order the village moved, “The women, children, and old men, in
fact, gathered on a high hill to watch.”[viii]
But the camp was moved. At
least the Lakȟótas’ was, from the west side of Taȟčá Wakútepi to the southeast
side, below Medicine Hole the day before Sully’s arrival,[ix] in
a movement which placed a fresh water creek between them and the approaching
soldiers. The Lakȟóta had learned the previous summer that water slowed or
stopped the soldiers’ advance.
"Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake," says Ernie LaPointe of Sitting Bull, "that's his name."
Ernie LaPointe, Tȟatȟáŋka
ĺyotake’s (Sitting Bull’s) direct lineal descendant, a great-grandson of the
Huŋkphápȟa leader, offers this retrospective, “If it had been possible, Tȟatȟáŋka
ĺyotake might have accepted peace terms that simply allowed his people and him
to continue to live their traditional lifestyle.” As it was, Sully’s assault
left one hundred Lakȟóta dead,[x]
though Sully’s reports have the count closer to 150.
A map of the Killdeer conflict as it unfolded, courtesy of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
A map of the Killdeer conflict as it unfolded, courtesy of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
The Lakȟóta camp had moved
in a position which faced Sully’s left flank; ĺŋkpaduta’s camp faced Sully’s
right. A hunting party, possibly a war party though all the men were as much
prepared to fight as to hunt, skirmished with Sully’s Winnebago scouts earlier
that day. Sully’s command, five miles away, approached Taȟčá Wakútepi for a
showdown.
When the soldiers got
closer, a lone Lakȟóta warrior, Šúŋka Waŋžíla (Lone Dog), decided to test the
fighting resolve of the soldiers and boldly rode his horse within range of
fire. The soldiers fired three times at him. Tȟatȟáŋka Ská (White Bull) believed that Šúŋka Waŋžíla lived a
wakȟáŋ life, charmed some would say in English. Šúŋka Waŋžíla, explained Tȟatȟáŋka Ská, “…was with a ghost and it was
hard to shoot him.”[xi]
A map of the 1864 Sully campaign in Dakota Territory.
Lt. Col. John Pattee, under
Sully’s command that day, said of Šúŋka Waŋžíla riding, waving, and whooping at
the soldiers, that an aide from Sully approached him, “The General sends his
compliments and wishes you to kill that Indian for God’s sake.” Pattee ordered
three sharpshooters to bring down Šúŋka Waŋžíla. One shot, according to Pattee,
sent Šúŋka Waŋžíla from his horse, though Sully claimed the warrior fell from
his horse.[xii]
According to Šúŋka Waŋžíla’s
own pictographic record, he was riding, armed with bow and arrows, carrying
black shields as much for practical protection as for spiritual protection, and
received one wound.[xiii]
The fighting continued north
for the five miles it took for Sully’s command to reach the encampments. For
those five miles, the Lakȟóta held the soldiers’ attention, at times in brutal
hand to hand combat. The Lakȟóta managed to outflank Sully’s men, which
threatened the wagons and horses, so Sully ordered artillery to open fire. When
the fight approached the encampments, the women hastened to break and flee.
Frances “Fanny” Kelly, a captive of the Lakȟóta said that as soon as soldiers
were sighted, the women withdrew into the hills, woods, and ravines, around
Taȟčá Wakútepi, for protection[xiv].
Taȟčá Wakútepi (Killdeer Mountain), a view from the south looking north.
On the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna and Isáŋyathi
side of the conflict, the fight for the Dakȟóta became a stubborn retreat back
to the encampments at the base of Taȟčá Wakútepi. There the soldiers broke into
heavy fire into the Dakȟóta protectors until they finally broke. White Bull
told Stanley Vestal (Walter Campbell) that the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna and Isáŋyathi
were as strangers to the Lakȟóta, and that they lost thirty when their line of
defense broke.[xv]
In a dialog with Mr. Timothy
Hunts In Winter, there was a woman, an ancestor of his, Ohítika Wiŋ (Brave
Woman) who fought at Killdeer. “She was only 14 on the day of the Killdeer fight
but she fought along side her até (father). Her até was killed that day in
battle,” explained Hunts In Winter, “she was named Ohítika Wiŋ because she was
a woman warrior.”[xvi]
The Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta encampment lay on the other side of this coulee (the treeline in the middle ground). The Lakȟóta camp moved here from the southwest side of the plateau.
From the Lakȟóta camp there
came a singer escorting a man known as The-Man-Who-Never-Walked, a cripple
since birth. His limbs were twisted and shrunken and in all his forty winters,
he had never once hunted nor fought. When the soldiers came to the camp,
The-Man-Who-Never-Walked knew that this was his one chance to fight. He was
loaded onto a travois and a creamy white horse pulled the drag. The singer led
him to where Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake was watching the fight.
When the singer finished his
song, he called out, “This man has been a cripple all his life. He has never
gone to war. Now he asks to be put into this fight.” Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake replied,
“That is perfectly all right. Let him die in battle if he wants to.” White Bull
later said of Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake, “Sitting Bull’s heart was full that day. He
was proud of his nation. Even the helpless were eager to do battle in defense
of their people.”[xvii]
The horse was whipped and drove The-Man-Who-Never-Walked straight into a line
of soldiers, who shot the horse then him. They called him Čhaŋte Matȟó (Bear’s
Heart) after that because of his great courage.
A closer look at the south-facing slope of Taȟčá Wakútepi, below Medicine Hole. They would have ascended the plateau going around the landmark and over.
Íŋkpaduta engaged in a
counter-attack on Sully’s right flank to stall his approach and lost
twenty-seven warriors in hand to hand fighting. The Isáŋyathi broke just as
Sully’s artillery began to fire upon the encampment.
Women and children who
hadn’t retreated into the hills and ravines west of Taȟčá Wakútepi were
suddenly in the fight. The women gathered what they could before abandoning
camp, and young boys shepherded the horses to safety. “Children cried, the dogs
were under everybody’s feet, mules balked, and pack horses took fright at the
shell-fire or snorted at the drifting smoke behind them,” according to Frances
Kelly.[xviii]
The Badlands west of Taȟčá Wakútepi. Thousands of places to hide and rendezvous on top of generations of intimate familiarity with the land helped the Lakȟóta remain elusive.
The Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta
turned west into the Badlands, and there evaded capture.
The smoke cleared and over a
hundred Lakȟóta and Dakȟóta lay dead. Sully ordered troops to destroy
everything left behind. Lodges, blankets, and food were burned. Dogs were shot.
Children inadvertently left behind in the confusion were chased down by the
Winnebago scouts and killed.
________________________
GLOSSARY:
Čhaŋte
Matȟó: Bear’s Heart (The-Man-Who-Never-Walked), a forty-year-old disabled Lakȟóta
man who fought his first and last fight at Taȟčá
Wakútepi
Huŋkphápȟa: also known as “Hunkpapa,” one of the seven Thítȟuŋwaŋ
tribes
Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna:
Little End Village (Yanktonai), one of the seven tribes that make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ
ĺŋkpaduta: Scarlet Point, war chief of the Waȟpékhute band of the
Isáŋyathi
Isáŋyathi: the general name of the four eastern tribes
(Sisíthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpékhute, and Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ), their language
is Dakȟóta
Matȟó
Watȟákpe: Charging Bear (John Grass), a war chief of the Sihásapa, one of the seven Thítȟuŋwaŋ tribes
Mníšoše: Water-Astir (Missouri River)
Očhéthi Šakówiŋ: Seven Council Fires (The Great Sioux Nation), the
confederation is made up of the Thítȟuŋwaŋ, Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna, Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ,
Sisíthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpékhute, and Bdewákhaŋthuŋwaŋ
Ohítika Wiŋ: Brave Woman, she fought at Killdeer Mountain
alongside her father when she was fourteen years old
Pa ÍpuzA Napé Wakpána: Dry Bone Hill Creek (Whitestone Hill Creek)
Phizí: Gall, a war chief of the Huŋkphápȟa (Hunkpapa), one of the
seven Thítȟuŋwaŋ tribes
Sihásapa: Black Sole Moccasins (Blackfeet) one of the seven
Thítȟuŋwaŋ tribes
Šúŋka Waŋžíla: Dog Only-One (Lone Dog), a Huŋkphápȟa warrior and a
Waníyetu Wowápi (Winter Count) keeper
Tačháŋȟpi Lúta: Red Tomahawk , a Huŋkphápȟa warrior known more for
being a Bureau of Indian Affairs police officer and his role in the death of
Sitting Bull.
Taȟčá Wakútepi: Where They Kill Deer (Killdeer Mountain)
Tȟatȟáŋka ĺyotake: Sitting Bull, a great leader of the Huŋkphápȟa
Tȟatȟáŋka Ská: White Bull, nephew of Sitting Bull, and a
famous warrior
Thítȟuŋwaŋ: Dwellers On The Plains (Teton), the Thítȟuŋwaŋ is made
up of the Huŋkphápȟa, Sihásapa, Mnikȟówožu,
Itázipčho, Oglála, Oóhenuŋpa, and Sičháŋǧu, their
language is Lakȟóta
Wakȟáŋ:
With-Energy, often translated as “Holy” or “Sacred”
Wakhéye Ská: White Lodge, a
chief of the Sisíthuŋwaŋ
[i] In an interview conducted by Colonel Alfred Welch
with One Bull, July 14, 1934.
[ii] From Mr. Corbin Shoots The Enemy, September 2013.
[iii] Welch, A. B., Welch
Dakota Papers (welchdakotapapers.com).
[iv] Larson, R., Gall:
Lakota War Chief (University of Oklahoma Press, 2007), 45.
[v] Welch, A. B., Welch
Dakota Papers (welchdakotapapers.com).
[vi] Interview with Delma Helman, July 2013.
[vii] Vestal, S. (Campbell, W.), Sitting Bull: Champion Of The Sioux (University of Oklahoma Press,
1957).
[viii] Utley, R., The
Lance And The Shield: The Life And Times Of Sitting Bull (Henry Holt And
Company, 1993), 55.
[ix] White Bull, box 105, notebook 24, pp. 1-6, Walter S.
Campbell Collection, University of Oklahoma Library, Norman, OK.
[x] LaPointe, E.,
Sitting Bull: His Life And Legacy (Gibbs Smith, 2009), p. 49.
[xi] White Bull, box 105, notebook 24, pp. 1-6, Walter S.
Campbell Collection, University of Oklahoma Library, Norman, OK.
[xii] Pattee, J., Dakota
Campaigns (South Dakota Historical Collections 5, 1910), 308.
[xiii] Hé Núŋpa WaníčA (No Two Horns), thípi with
pictographic records, July 7, 1915.
[xiv] Kelly, F., Narrative
Of My Captivity Among The Sioux (Mutual Publishing Company, 1871), pp.
274-278.
[xv] White Bull, box 105, notebook 24, pp. 1-6, Walter S.
Campbell Collection, University of Oklahoma Library, Norman, OK.
[xvi] From Mr. Tim Hunts In The Winter, March, 2014.
[xvii] Vestal, S., Sitting
Bull: Champion Of The Sioux (University of Oklahoma Press, 1932), p53-54; White Bull, box 105, notebook 24, pp.
1-6, Walter S. Campbell Collection, University of Oklahoma Library, Norman, OK.
[xviii] Vestal, S., New Sources Of Indian History (Gayley
Press, 2008), p. 56.
Enjoyed your account greatly. Thanks very much for posting.
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