This could be the last MONDAY this year!!

Today is the anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. Nearly three hundred Lakota people killed by soldiers of the United States Army. Nineteen soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor specifically for Wounded Knee. The event followed a botched attempt to disarm the Lakota people at the camp.

The previous day, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M. Whitside approached Spotted Elk’s band of Miniconjou Lakota and 38 Hunkpapa Lakota near Porcupine Butte and escorted them five miles westward to Wounded Knee Creek, where they made camp. The remainder of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, led by Colonel James W. Forsyth, arrived and surrounded the encampment. The regiment was supported by a battery of four Hotchkiss mountain guns. The Army was catering to the anxiety of settlers who called the conflict the Messiah War and were worried the ceremonial Ghost Dance signified a potentially dangerous Sioux resurgence.