Vanished Worlds, Enduring People

Bullhead’s Primer. December, 1890. [view]

Bullhead was one of the officers of the Indian Police sent to arrest Sitting Bull (ca. 1831-1890) at his home on the Standing Rock Reservation on December 15, 1890. U. S. government Indian agents, alarmed by the spread of the messianic Ghost Dance movement, believed the incarceration of Sitting Bull would stem a feared uprising. The famed Lakota war chief and medicine man appealed to his followers for assistance, and was shot and killed by Bullhead and Red Tomahawk when they tried to arrest him. Bullhead died during the melee that ensued. A few days later, the tragic massacre at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation effectively ended both the Ghost Dance movement and armed Indian resistance. This Dakota language primer was reportedly found on Bullhead’s body.