Originally published in 1980 in the Center’s newsletter, and reprinted in Points West magazine
Sitting Bull: Even Cody Couldn’t Save Him
By Gene Ball
Former Education Director
The following article appeared in the Jan-Feb-March 1980 newsletter of the then-named Buffalo Bill Historical Center. At the time, Gene Ball served as the Center’s education director. Sitting Bull had toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West in 1885.
On December 15, 1890, Indian police killed the great Sioux leader Sitting Bull. They’d attempted to arrest him on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in South Dakota when his home camp erupted in gunfire, and the chief lay dead. Only two weeks earlier, circumstances had thwarted a mission by William F. Cody that might have averted the tragedy.
Buffalo Bill Cody had just returned from a European tour with his Wild West show in late November 1890. U.S. Army General Nelson A. Miles contacted him, saying that he, Miles, was concerned about a possible Indian uprising. The Ghost Dance religion had caused the worry since it was gaining followers on many of the reservations. Adherents believed a new messiah was coming very soon to restore the Indians to prominence and bring back the buffalo. Opponents interpreted this as an ominous development and a clear threat to nearby residents.
Benjamin Capps, writing in the Time-Life book The Great Chiefs, says:
In the mistaken belief that Sitting Bull was behind the ghost dance movement, authorities asked his old friend Buffalo Bill Cody…to coax him to an Army post. But the plan was scrapped, and Sitting Bull was arrested instead. As it turned out, it might have been better all-around if Cody had been allowed to proceed.
There are several different interpretations of Cody’s aborted mission, which some characterize as only a publicity stunt. However, authorization did come from General Miles. It said:
Authority was given on November 1, 1890, to William F. Cody, a reliable frontiersman who has had much experience as chief of scouts, and who knew Sitting Bull very well, and had perhaps as much influence over him as any living man, to proceed to the Standing Rock Agency to induce Sitting Bull to come in with him.
On November 28, when Cody arrived at Standing Rock, the agent there did not appreciate what he considered to be interference with his handling of a delicate matter. The government official immediately wired Washington, urging them to rescind the orders. The ironic reason he gave for making the request was that things were well in hand, and when the time was right, he could “arrest Sitting Bull by Indian police without bloodshed.”
In spite of the tense situation, Cody bought gifts, hired an interpreter, and headed out to locate Sitting Bull. Before he could travel the fifty miles to his old friend’s encampment, President Harrison recalled him. According to Cody, the president later expressed regret personally for sending the message that cancelled General Miles’s order.
It is easy to speculate how the Sitting Bull incident might have ended if Buffalo Bill had reached him and had a chance to talk with the him. The result could hardly have been worse than what actually happened when the agent attempted Sitting Bull’s arrest “without bloodshed.” By the end of the day December 15, 1890, fourteen Sioux were dead, and Sitting Bull’s body was on its way back to Standing Rocky Agency in a wagon along with the Indian police dead.
The killing of Sitting Bull came dangerously close to provoking the uprising that his arrest was supposed to prevent.
…but two weeks later, there was Wounded Knee. One can’t help but wonder what was on Buffalo Bill’s mind when he and General Miles visited the battle site on January 16, 1891.