The killing of this Indian leader on December 15, 1890, was one factor that led to the Wounded Knee Massacre.
The killing of Indian leader Sitting Bull on December 15, 1890, was one factor that led to the Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The reservation had been left in disarray when Sioux leader Sitting Bull was killed by Indian police on December 15. As Big Foot, another Sioux leader, led his tribe away from the reservation on December 28, they were surrounded by 7th Cavalry troops at Wounded Knee Creek. The next morning, when the cavalry tried to disarm the Sioux, shots rang out and during the next 6 hours, 146 Sioux men, women and children, including Big Foot, were killed. The 7th Cavalry lost 30 killed.
