North America 1890: Wounded Knee Massacre
29 December 1890
29 Dec 1890
Closing the Frontier
1200–1492 Late Pre-Columbian Era
1492–1513 The Age of Columbus
1513–1604 The Conquistadors
1604–1821 NO MAPS FOR THIS PERIOD YET
1821–1842 Successors of New Spain
1842–1860 Manifest Destiny
1860–1865 American Civil War
1865–1898 Closing the Frontier
1898–1941 American Empire
1941–pres American Superpower
Wounded Knee Massacre
By 1890, American Indian resistance in the western United States had been crushed and settlers and railways had closed the frontier. In this environment of despair, the apocalyptic Ghost Dance religion spread quickly among Indian communities from California to Oklahoma, alarming white authorities. When, in December, 500 US Cavalry intercepted a group of 350 Lakota, mostly Ghost Dance practitioners, in South Dakota, tensions quickly led to a one-sided battle at Wounded Knee. This massacre was the last major conflict of the Indian Wars.
