Army at Wounded Knee

I am doing everything with the means at hand that mortal man can do to accomplish the end you desire.
–Maj. S. M. Whitside

This day 125 years ago… day four of the hunt for Big Foot saw Major Whitside establish his camp adjacent to the the post office where the Pine Ridge Agency road crossed Wounded Knee Creek.  (click to open Hunting for Big Foot homepage)

The time displayed, e.g. (9:30 a.m.), at the beginning of each message reflects when that information was sent from or received at General Brooke’s headquarters, unless otherwise indicated.  Most of the messages were transmitted via telegraph. Those messages that were delivered by other means such as couriers or heliograph are so annotated in parenthesis at the end of each respective message.  Hover the mouse over the names displayed in Red to display the full identity of the individual mentioned.  Bold Red will also indicate location of the individual.  Blue underlined texts are hyperlinks to other pages or cites.  Click on photos of individuals to see an enlarged version of the source photograph in a new tab.  Similarly, clicking on maps will open a new tab with an enlarged view of each map that can be zoomed in for greater detail.

Saturday, Dec. 27, 1890.

(Click to enlarge) Inset depicting approximate location of Col. Carr, Maj. Henry, and Maj. Whitside on the morning of 27 Dec. 1890.

Whitside to Asst Adj Gen Dept Platte (sent 10:30 p.m. Dec. 26, rec’d before 3 a.m. Dec. 27): I have the honor to report my arrival with 1st Battalion 7th Cavalry at this point at 5:10 p.m. after dark. About a mile back from here I was met by an Indian scout who reported to me that four horsemen had been seen in the vicinity of this point. Troop A, under command of Captain Moylan, was pushed forward at a trot but the horseman had disappeared in the darkness. Allela, an Indian policeman, who was at his home near here reported to Captain Moylan that these four men had come to his home and he had talked with them. They were Indians with whom he was not acquainted. They told him they were Sitting Bull people and that they had been near the agency, but seeing our approach had retreated. They left him, going in an easterly direction.
The 15 Indian scouts who left the agency in advance of me are between here and the mouth of the Porcupine with instructions to report to me at once if any Indians are seen heading in this direction. To-morrow morning I will cause the country to the north-east and south of me to be thoroughly scouted to ascertain if any Indians have passed during the night. I will remain here till further instructions, constantly scouting this vicinity. (by courier) {548} Continue reading →