1 00:00:07,208 --> 00:00:09,958 [narrator] Previously on "Sitting Bull". 2 00:00:11,875 --> 00:00:13,917 In the mid-1800s 3 00:00:14,083 --> 00:00:16,083 on the Great Plains of North America, 4 00:00:16,250 --> 00:00:19,167 the Lakota live largely unaware 5 00:00:19,333 --> 00:00:21,000 of their neighbor to the east, 6 00:00:21,167 --> 00:00:23,167 the United States. 7 00:00:25,667 --> 00:00:28,000 But as a young leader named Sitting Bull 8 00:00:28,208 --> 00:00:30,792 rises to prominence among his people, 9 00:00:30,958 --> 00:00:33,542 everything changes. 10 00:00:34,625 --> 00:00:36,708 [train rumbles] 11 00:00:37,750 --> 00:00:40,167 In one of the great migrations in American history, 12 00:00:40,375 --> 00:00:42,542 people started flooding the west. 13 00:00:43,583 --> 00:00:46,625 White Americans saw themselves as settlers 14 00:00:46,792 --> 00:00:49,042 moving into virgin territory. 15 00:00:49,208 --> 00:00:52,375 Native people see it as invasion from the east. 16 00:00:52,542 --> 00:00:54,625 [guns firing] 17 00:00:54,792 --> 00:00:57,917 [narrator] But Sitting Bull refuses to give in. 18 00:00:58,083 --> 00:01:00,042 [Jeffrey] Sitting Bull was tremendously confident 19 00:01:00,208 --> 00:01:02,542 in his abilities to actually resist the United States. 20 00:01:06,125 --> 00:01:08,042 [narrator] And when the US offers a treaty 21 00:01:08,208 --> 00:01:11,000 restricting the Lakota people to a reservation, 22 00:01:11,208 --> 00:01:13,542 Sitting Bull refuses. 23 00:01:20,458 --> 00:01:24,000 Sitting Bull was not able to accept any alternative 24 00:01:24,125 --> 00:01:26,167 other than complete freedom. 25 00:01:26,375 --> 00:01:29,375 [narrator] With the famed warrior Crazy Horse by his side, 26 00:01:29,542 --> 00:01:32,250 Sitting Bull forms a resistance movement 27 00:01:32,417 --> 00:01:35,000 that soon swells in numbers. 28 00:01:35,208 --> 00:01:37,750 People are flocking to Sitting Bull and to Crazy Horse. 29 00:01:37,917 --> 00:01:39,792 That's the life they want to lead. 30 00:01:39,958 --> 00:01:41,292 [narrator] But as the US continues 31 00:01:41,500 --> 00:01:43,333 its relentless push west, 32 00:01:43,542 --> 00:01:47,125 the Lakota will soon meet their greatest adversary. 33 00:01:47,333 --> 00:01:50,667 [dramatic music builds] 34 00:02:08,833 --> 00:02:11,417 [tools clanging] 35 00:02:14,500 --> 00:02:16,167 [narrator] On the banks of the Yellowstone River 36 00:02:16,333 --> 00:02:18,333 in Eastern Montana, 37 00:02:18,500 --> 00:02:22,583 the US Army's 7th Cavalry is guarding a team of engineers 38 00:02:22,750 --> 00:02:24,875 surveying a railroad line 39 00:02:25,042 --> 00:02:27,625 that will cut across the Great Plains. 40 00:02:29,917 --> 00:02:31,708 Leading the expedition 41 00:02:31,875 --> 00:02:35,333 is Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, 42 00:02:35,500 --> 00:02:38,542 along with his trusted scout, 43 00:02:38,708 --> 00:02:40,333 Bloody Knife. 44 00:02:41,958 --> 00:02:44,125 [tense music plays] 45 00:03:29,625 --> 00:03:32,250 You. You. 46 00:04:07,208 --> 00:04:09,250 [warrior shouts] 47 00:04:09,417 --> 00:04:11,417 [soldier screams in distance] 48 00:04:12,875 --> 00:04:14,667 [warrior shouts] 49 00:04:37,750 --> 00:04:40,625 [narrator] From the moment Custer enters Lakota Territory, 50 00:04:40,750 --> 00:04:44,833 he realizes he's facing an enemy like no other. 51 00:04:48,042 --> 00:04:50,583 In the nine years since he lost his first major battle 52 00:04:50,750 --> 00:04:54,458 against the United States Army at Killdeer Mountain, 53 00:04:54,583 --> 00:04:58,500 Sitting Bull has learned how to fight the Americans. 54 00:04:59,042 --> 00:05:00,625 And over the next few weeks, 55 00:05:00,833 --> 00:05:02,458 he and his warriors 56 00:05:02,667 --> 00:05:05,292 relentlessly harass Custer's forces. 57 00:05:05,833 --> 00:05:09,000 Lakota warriors chose when to make war 58 00:05:09,125 --> 00:05:11,167 upon Americans very carefully. 59 00:05:11,375 --> 00:05:14,000 They wanted an advantage in numbers. 60 00:05:14,167 --> 00:05:15,917 They wanted the high ground. 61 00:05:16,083 --> 00:05:18,625 It was very helpful if they had the advantage of surprise. 62 00:05:18,750 --> 00:05:20,500 [solder grunts] 63 00:05:20,625 --> 00:05:21,917 [whoops] 64 00:05:22,083 --> 00:05:23,958 [guns firing] 65 00:05:25,292 --> 00:05:27,167 [narrator] Leading the battles 66 00:05:27,375 --> 00:05:30,500 are Sitting Bull's most trusted lieutenants, 67 00:05:32,083 --> 00:05:35,542 Gall and Crow King, 68 00:05:36,208 --> 00:05:39,583 along with the great Oglala warrior, Crazy Horse. 69 00:05:41,208 --> 00:05:43,708 [soldier] Regroup! Regroup! 70 00:05:52,458 --> 00:05:54,042 [narrator] After weeks of fighting, 71 00:05:54,208 --> 00:05:57,458 the Yellowstone expedition ends. 72 00:05:58,917 --> 00:06:02,292 For Custer, who'd hoped to beat back the Lakota 73 00:06:02,458 --> 00:06:04,708 and gain personal glory, 74 00:06:06,208 --> 00:06:08,583 the mission is a failure. 75 00:06:12,208 --> 00:06:14,917 [Megan Kate] Sitting Bull really did get the better of Custer. 76 00:06:15,083 --> 00:06:19,333 He had provided such intense resistance 77 00:06:19,500 --> 00:06:21,333 to the Northern Pacific surveyors 78 00:06:21,542 --> 00:06:25,250 that they were never able to build the line in the 1870s. 79 00:06:26,167 --> 00:06:28,458 [narrator] Sitting Bull's resistance to the railroads 80 00:06:28,625 --> 00:06:32,167 has even greater consequences back east. 81 00:06:32,958 --> 00:06:35,333 When the railroad defaults on its loans, 82 00:06:35,542 --> 00:06:37,542 the bank that issued them collapses, 83 00:06:37,708 --> 00:06:42,083 causing a financial panic across Wall Street. 84 00:06:44,500 --> 00:06:46,250 [Edward] There is no stock in the world 85 00:06:46,417 --> 00:06:48,500 that is more oversold and speculative 86 00:06:48,625 --> 00:06:50,542 than railroad stocks. 87 00:06:50,667 --> 00:06:53,208 So, this great, big investment firm overextends themselves 88 00:06:53,375 --> 00:06:55,208 and when the company goes under, 89 00:06:55,375 --> 00:06:57,500 they pull with them many other banks, 90 00:06:57,708 --> 00:06:59,542 many other investment houses. 91 00:06:59,708 --> 00:07:02,208 So, there's this tremendous implosion of the economy. 92 00:07:02,375 --> 00:07:05,542 It's called the Panic of 1873. 93 00:07:05,708 --> 00:07:09,667 55,000 businesses fold, 5,000 banks fail. 94 00:07:09,875 --> 00:07:13,167 It triggers a five year, five month period 95 00:07:13,292 --> 00:07:15,167 of economic contraction. 96 00:07:15,333 --> 00:07:17,000 And that's the longest in US history. 97 00:07:18,792 --> 00:07:22,250 It was the first really huge economic turndown 98 00:07:22,458 --> 00:07:24,292 in industrial American history 99 00:07:24,458 --> 00:07:27,458 and it led to bankruptcies, 100 00:07:27,625 --> 00:07:29,625 unemployment, and despair. 101 00:07:31,417 --> 00:07:33,500 [narrator] The economic crisis is so severe 102 00:07:33,667 --> 00:07:35,667 that until the 1930s, 103 00:07:35,833 --> 00:07:38,667 this will be known as The Great Depression. 104 00:07:40,958 --> 00:07:44,875 As President Ulysses S Grant begins his second term, 105 00:07:45,042 --> 00:07:49,667 he faces a problem he has no idea how to solve. 106 00:07:50,625 --> 00:07:53,208 Then, news reaches him from the Black Hills 107 00:07:53,375 --> 00:07:55,625 in the Dakota Territory 108 00:07:55,750 --> 00:07:58,917 that could lift the country out of its financial crisis. 109 00:08:01,042 --> 00:08:03,000 [Edward] An expedition head into the Black Hills 110 00:08:03,208 --> 00:08:05,292 in the summer of 1874 111 00:08:05,500 --> 00:08:08,750 and they discover large deposits of gold. 112 00:08:08,875 --> 00:08:13,042 Reporters send news of this strike back to the east, 113 00:08:13,250 --> 00:08:14,750 and within just a matter of days, 114 00:08:14,875 --> 00:08:17,875 the entire nation knows of this great gold strike 115 00:08:18,042 --> 00:08:20,208 that has taken place in the Black Hills. 116 00:08:21,125 --> 00:08:23,167 [narrator] The news triggers a massive gold rush 117 00:08:23,292 --> 00:08:27,833 and thousands of Americans pour into the Black Hills. 118 00:08:28,417 --> 00:08:30,167 [Clay] Suddenly, there was going to be 119 00:08:30,375 --> 00:08:32,875 this great infusion of gold 120 00:08:33,042 --> 00:08:36,167 and that would not only repair the treasury 121 00:08:36,333 --> 00:08:37,875 but provide employment 122 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,250 for thousands and thousands of good Americans. 123 00:08:40,417 --> 00:08:42,583 [narrator] But there's a problem. 124 00:08:42,750 --> 00:08:46,042 The Black Hills are part of the Great Sioux Reservation, 125 00:08:46,208 --> 00:08:47,750 promised to the Lakota 126 00:08:47,875 --> 00:08:51,000 in the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. 127 00:08:53,458 --> 00:08:55,750 [Shane] The Black Hills' cultural meaning 128 00:08:55,875 --> 00:08:58,750 within the Lakota, it's so sacred. 129 00:08:58,917 --> 00:09:00,750 You know, the Black Hills are considered to be 130 00:09:00,958 --> 00:09:03,625 one of the sources of life, a great resource 131 00:09:03,792 --> 00:09:07,125 for any kind of food, water. 132 00:09:07,250 --> 00:09:10,167 They were just an oasis in the middle of the Great Plains. 133 00:09:12,042 --> 00:09:14,917 [narrator] Grant knows that a crisis is brewing. 134 00:09:17,208 --> 00:09:19,833 Once gold was discovered, there was no stopping 135 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:22,292 the amount of greed, and prospectors, 136 00:09:22,500 --> 00:09:23,958 and fortune seekers 137 00:09:24,125 --> 00:09:25,917 that descended on the Black Hills. 138 00:09:26,042 --> 00:09:29,167 They weren't going to honor laws 139 00:09:29,375 --> 00:09:33,833 that said that parcel land belonged to a particular tribe. 140 00:09:33,958 --> 00:09:36,542 Forget any treaty, forget any rights. 141 00:09:37,333 --> 00:09:38,833 [Christy] You've got prospectors 142 00:09:39,042 --> 00:09:42,833 intruding on the lands that belong to the Lakota. 143 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,458 Grant is somebody who says you should be a man of your word. 144 00:09:46,625 --> 00:09:48,833 I mean, that was sacred to him. 145 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,083 And the word of the nation's treaty 146 00:09:51,208 --> 00:09:54,167 was stay out of the Black Hills. 147 00:09:54,958 --> 00:09:57,000 [narrator] Desperate to avoid conflict, 148 00:09:57,167 --> 00:10:00,083 Grant sends eight commissioners to meet with tribal leaders 149 00:10:00,208 --> 00:10:02,792 in June of 1875. 150 00:10:02,958 --> 00:10:06,958 His goal, buy the Black Hills from the Lakota 151 00:10:07,083 --> 00:10:09,583 for $6,000.000. 152 00:10:14,875 --> 00:10:18,000 [Shane] From Sitting Bull and his people's perspective, 153 00:10:18,208 --> 00:10:21,333 land like that cannot be bought or sold. 154 00:10:21,500 --> 00:10:24,250 This is beyond the realm of money. 155 00:10:24,417 --> 00:10:25,833 This is a spiritual connection 156 00:10:26,042 --> 00:10:28,250 that can only be held in the heart. 157 00:10:31,625 --> 00:10:33,250 [narrator] In response to the offer, 158 00:10:33,417 --> 00:10:36,625 Sitting Bull dispatches some of his warriors 159 00:10:36,833 --> 00:10:38,917 to send a message to the delegation. 160 00:10:40,708 --> 00:10:44,000 From the north, from Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, 161 00:10:44,167 --> 00:10:47,083 came the so-called northern roamers, by the hundreds. 162 00:10:47,250 --> 00:10:48,833 And they came down 163 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,208 and they just scared the hell out of the commission. 164 00:10:52,875 --> 00:10:54,917 The government officials high-tailed it 165 00:10:55,083 --> 00:10:57,250 back to the east and they said 166 00:10:57,417 --> 00:10:59,792 "Oh, we can't reach a deal with these people." 167 00:11:01,833 --> 00:11:04,375 And so, the move becomes okay, they won't trade, 168 00:11:04,542 --> 00:11:06,208 so we'll have to take it. 169 00:11:10,125 --> 00:11:13,042 [narrator] On November 3rd, 1875, 170 00:11:13,208 --> 00:11:16,500 Grant summons his generals and advisors 171 00:11:16,667 --> 00:11:18,917 for a secret meeting at the White House. 172 00:11:21,167 --> 00:11:22,958 [Mark Lee] President Grant has decided 173 00:11:23,125 --> 00:11:27,167 we've got to crush Sitting Bull, we've got to crush Crazy Horse, 174 00:11:27,375 --> 00:11:30,750 we have to crush all these that are living out here 175 00:11:30,917 --> 00:11:33,000 causing, you know, supposed problems 176 00:11:33,167 --> 00:11:35,375 for the miners and other settlers. 177 00:11:35,542 --> 00:11:38,208 And so, they issue an ultimatum. 178 00:11:40,583 --> 00:11:43,333 [narrator] The ultimatum states that all Native People 179 00:11:43,500 --> 00:11:45,292 not living on reservations 180 00:11:45,458 --> 00:11:47,667 must surrender to US forts 181 00:11:47,833 --> 00:11:50,500 by the end of January 1876 182 00:11:50,667 --> 00:11:54,167 or they'll be considered hostile. 183 00:12:02,917 --> 00:12:05,542 If Sitting Bull refuses to surrender to the reservation, 184 00:12:05,708 --> 00:12:07,875 he'll make every one of his people 185 00:12:08,042 --> 00:12:10,125 a target of the US Army. 186 00:12:12,917 --> 00:12:15,875 But the Lakota leader holds firm. 187 00:12:16,667 --> 00:12:18,875 [water hisses] 188 00:12:20,917 --> 00:12:23,667 The January deadline comes and goes 189 00:12:23,833 --> 00:12:27,250 with no sign of Sitting Bull or his people. 190 00:12:28,542 --> 00:12:31,292 [ominous music plays] 191 00:12:32,833 --> 00:12:36,333 - At that point, Grant takes on the role 192 00:12:36,542 --> 00:12:38,750 he did in the Civil War, which is we're gonna win this. 193 00:12:40,708 --> 00:12:42,708 [Megan Kate] Really what that meant 194 00:12:42,875 --> 00:12:45,167 is that the US Army had full rein 195 00:12:45,375 --> 00:12:49,250 to engage in total war against the Lakota people. 196 00:13:01,083 --> 00:13:03,625 [narrator] In the spring of 1876, 197 00:13:04,375 --> 00:13:06,167 after Sitting Bull and his followers 198 00:13:06,375 --> 00:13:08,458 reject President Grant's ultimatum, 199 00:13:11,375 --> 00:13:14,208 the US Army unleashes a brutal assault 200 00:13:14,375 --> 00:13:16,042 on any Lakota people 201 00:13:16,208 --> 00:13:18,792 living outside the Great Sioux Reservation. - 202 00:13:36,542 --> 00:13:38,000 [Edward] The US military 203 00:13:38,167 --> 00:13:39,917 brings in a new set of rules of war. 204 00:13:41,458 --> 00:13:43,250 In the Civil War, the US Army 205 00:13:43,417 --> 00:13:44,958 did not attack civilian populations directly 206 00:13:45,125 --> 00:13:46,917 in order to annihilate them. 207 00:13:47,042 --> 00:13:49,417 But that is exactly what happened 208 00:13:49,542 --> 00:13:52,375 with Native settlements in the American West. 209 00:13:53,042 --> 00:13:55,667 Women and children became 210 00:13:55,792 --> 00:13:58,375 the direct victim of US aggression. 211 00:13:59,750 --> 00:14:02,250 There were numerous massacres 212 00:14:02,417 --> 00:14:03,833 and mass graves 213 00:14:04,042 --> 00:14:06,500 of majority women and children. 214 00:14:07,667 --> 00:14:11,083 [Megan Kate] This total warfare strategy was brutal. 215 00:14:11,208 --> 00:14:14,667 The US Army did not see Indigenous Peoples 216 00:14:14,833 --> 00:14:16,542 as their equals, they saw them as inferiors, 217 00:14:16,708 --> 00:14:20,000 and really ramped up the violence. 218 00:14:25,542 --> 00:14:29,417 [narrator] But Grant knows the resistance won't end 219 00:14:29,583 --> 00:14:32,542 until Sitting Bull is captured or killed. 220 00:14:33,875 --> 00:14:36,167 So, he dispatches a force 221 00:14:36,375 --> 00:14:39,000 that includes a man who has experience 222 00:14:39,208 --> 00:14:41,000 fighting the Lakota leader, 223 00:14:41,167 --> 00:14:44,625 Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. 224 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,500 [Edward] Custer has had some significant failures, 225 00:14:48,708 --> 00:14:51,167 but the people in Washington, Sherman and Grant, 226 00:14:51,333 --> 00:14:54,000 know that he is actually an exceptional commander. 227 00:14:54,125 --> 00:14:56,250 He's a great motivator of his troops. 228 00:14:56,417 --> 00:14:59,542 And he's a person that they feel like they can trust. 229 00:15:00,208 --> 00:15:01,833 [narrator] Three years after failing to defeat 230 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:06,333 the Lakota during the Yellowstone expedition, 231 00:15:06,542 --> 00:15:10,042 Custer leads 600 soldiers from the 7th Cavalry. 232 00:15:12,042 --> 00:15:14,583 Determined to reclaim his Civil War glory. 233 00:15:17,125 --> 00:15:20,042 Custer's mission was not a peacekeeping mission. 234 00:15:20,208 --> 00:15:22,542 It was a seek and destroy mission. 235 00:15:22,708 --> 00:15:25,042 That was plain and simple. 236 00:15:27,042 --> 00:15:28,792 [narrator] To help him track down Sitting Bull, 237 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,167 Custer uses every advantage he has, 238 00:15:31,333 --> 00:15:34,583 including his scout, Bloody Knife, 239 00:15:34,708 --> 00:15:38,917 who has his own score to settle with the Lakota. 240 00:15:40,542 --> 00:15:42,500 [Bill] Bloody Knife lived, in his youth, 241 00:15:42,667 --> 00:15:44,708 in the Hunkpapa tribe. 242 00:15:47,208 --> 00:15:50,125 And he was treated poorly by the young boys, 243 00:15:50,250 --> 00:15:54,208 Sitting Bull, Crow King, Gall, especially, 244 00:15:54,917 --> 00:15:57,083 and there was quite an animosity. 245 00:16:02,417 --> 00:16:05,167 [narrator] But as Custer's troops close in on Sitting Bull, 246 00:16:05,333 --> 00:16:08,208 the Lakotas numbers are growing. 247 00:16:10,292 --> 00:16:13,208 In the aftermath of the army's attacks, 248 00:16:13,333 --> 00:16:16,625 thousands of Native People from all over the Great Plains 249 00:16:16,792 --> 00:16:19,208 flock to Sitting Bull's camp. 250 00:16:24,042 --> 00:16:25,500 [Shane] Sitting Bull's charisma, 251 00:16:25,708 --> 00:16:28,375 combined with Crazy Horse's legendary status 252 00:16:28,542 --> 00:16:31,667 really created a juggernaut of a community 253 00:16:31,750 --> 00:16:33,917 in that spring and summer. 254 00:16:34,083 --> 00:16:36,833 The Northern Cheyenne and the Northern Arapaho 255 00:16:37,042 --> 00:16:39,083 joined the Lakota people 256 00:16:39,208 --> 00:16:41,458 and it was unprecedented to see 257 00:16:41,625 --> 00:16:45,125 that many different types of tribes and cultures 258 00:16:45,292 --> 00:16:47,375 all under the same tent. 259 00:16:51,792 --> 00:16:54,000 [narrator] By June of 1876, 260 00:16:54,208 --> 00:16:57,667 Sitting Bull's camp swells to nearly 7,000, 261 00:16:57,792 --> 00:16:59,542 with over 1,500 warriors. 262 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,667 It's the largest gathering of Plains Tribes in 25 years. 263 00:17:12,417 --> 00:17:15,708 Then, in the early summer of 1876, 264 00:17:15,833 --> 00:17:18,542 Sitting Bull has a vision. 265 00:18:36,250 --> 00:18:38,625 [invigorating whooping] 266 00:18:40,250 --> 00:18:42,042 [Mark Lee] It's a powerful vision. 267 00:18:42,250 --> 00:18:44,500 And what greater moment could there be than a vision 268 00:18:44,667 --> 00:18:47,000 from Sitting Bull of a great victory? 269 00:18:47,208 --> 00:18:49,417 It spreads awe through all the people. 270 00:18:49,542 --> 00:18:52,667 They know that this is a prophecy that will bear fruit. 271 00:18:52,875 --> 00:18:55,167 It's coming from Sitting Bull, who is closer 272 00:18:55,333 --> 00:18:57,250 to the Great Spirit than any of them. 273 00:19:00,292 --> 00:19:04,083 [narrator] With Sitting Bull's people united behind him 274 00:19:04,208 --> 00:19:07,542 and Custer's 7th Cavalry bearing down, 275 00:19:08,250 --> 00:19:11,000 the stage is set 276 00:19:11,208 --> 00:19:13,125 for one of the most pivotal battles 277 00:19:13,292 --> 00:19:15,292 the nation has ever known. 278 00:19:15,500 --> 00:19:16,417 [whooping] 279 00:19:41,708 --> 00:19:43,792 They're close. 280 00:19:43,958 --> 00:19:45,708 [Custer] How many? 281 00:19:47,958 --> 00:19:49,833 Thousands. 282 00:19:51,750 --> 00:19:54,333 [narrator] Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer 283 00:19:54,542 --> 00:19:57,500 and his scout, Bloody Knife, 284 00:19:58,375 --> 00:20:00,833 had been searching for Sitting Bull and his followers 285 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,208 for over a month. 286 00:20:04,417 --> 00:20:08,458 Now, they're within five miles of his massive camp 287 00:20:09,625 --> 00:20:12,208 situated along the banks of the Little Bighorn River 288 00:20:12,375 --> 00:20:14,625 in Montana. 289 00:20:15,792 --> 00:20:19,375 The camp has grown to nearly 7,000 followers 290 00:20:19,542 --> 00:20:22,208 with over 1,500 warriors. 291 00:20:27,500 --> 00:20:30,750 More than twice as many soldiers as the 7th Cavalry. 292 00:20:33,375 --> 00:20:36,667 But Custer is undeterred. 293 00:20:37,500 --> 00:20:40,833 Custer felt that to defeat a Lakota camp, 294 00:20:40,917 --> 00:20:42,667 you had to surprise them. 295 00:20:42,875 --> 00:20:45,583 If we find them and we can surprise them, 296 00:20:45,708 --> 00:20:49,333 the fighting will be a secondary consideration. 297 00:20:49,500 --> 00:20:52,000 The 7th Calvary would have the capability 298 00:20:52,208 --> 00:20:55,375 to deal with any size camp they came up to. 299 00:20:56,375 --> 00:20:58,667 [narrator] Even though he's outnumbered, 300 00:20:58,833 --> 00:21:00,792 he decides to move in. 301 00:21:00,958 --> 00:21:05,125 [Edward] He sees this as a moment to redeem himself, 302 00:21:05,292 --> 00:21:07,583 to add greater glory to his reputation, 303 00:21:07,792 --> 00:21:11,458 to pull him to a new height of fame and possibly fortune. 304 00:21:11,667 --> 00:21:14,833 And so, that's going to influence his decision making. 305 00:21:15,708 --> 00:21:19,542 [narrator] Custer divides his men into three groups. 306 00:21:20,750 --> 00:21:24,083 He orders one column to capture any fleeing villagers. 307 00:21:24,875 --> 00:21:27,417 Then he orders another battalion, 308 00:21:27,583 --> 00:21:29,458 including Bloody Knife, 309 00:21:29,625 --> 00:21:31,792 to attack the village from the south. 310 00:21:31,917 --> 00:21:35,417 Finally, Custer will lead a third unit 311 00:21:35,542 --> 00:21:39,042 to flank the village and charge from the north, 312 00:21:39,208 --> 00:21:41,542 crushing the Lakota camp. 313 00:21:52,875 --> 00:21:55,833 [ominous music] 314 00:22:03,125 --> 00:22:06,083 [hooves thundering in distance] 315 00:22:10,417 --> 00:22:12,333 [gunshot cracks] 316 00:22:22,167 --> 00:22:24,000 [horses neigh] 317 00:22:26,208 --> 00:22:28,958 [soldiers shouting] 318 00:22:32,458 --> 00:22:34,125 [gunshot] 319 00:22:43,042 --> 00:22:45,333 [Paul] Sitting Bull began to rally the young warriors 320 00:22:45,542 --> 00:22:48,625 to put up a defense and to push the soldiers back. 321 00:22:53,833 --> 00:22:56,667 So, he was in the heat of that fight, 322 00:22:56,875 --> 00:22:59,500 of that early part of the battle. 323 00:23:05,125 --> 00:23:07,333 [narrator] On the other side of the village, 324 00:23:07,500 --> 00:23:11,042 Crazy Horse is mobilizing his warriors. 325 00:23:12,667 --> 00:23:15,083 [Bill] Crazy Horse was an unbelievable warrior. 326 00:23:15,208 --> 00:23:19,292 He was an instinctive leader and he is incredibly talented 327 00:23:19,417 --> 00:23:21,417 and charismatic on the battlefield. 328 00:23:21,583 --> 00:23:25,042 And his warriors would follow him anywhere. 329 00:23:28,125 --> 00:23:29,792 [warriors shouting] 330 00:23:29,917 --> 00:23:32,417 [narrator] As the battle unfolds, 331 00:23:35,208 --> 00:23:37,667 Lakota warriors like Gall 332 00:23:37,792 --> 00:23:40,417 look to exploit any advantage. 333 00:23:42,875 --> 00:23:44,708 Gall played a very prominent role 334 00:23:44,917 --> 00:23:46,667 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. 335 00:23:48,667 --> 00:23:51,000 Gall led a group of Lakotas to confront US forces. 336 00:23:51,208 --> 00:23:53,333 [shouting] 337 00:23:53,500 --> 00:23:55,917 [arrow swishes, guns firing] 338 00:23:57,958 --> 00:24:01,333 [Jim] The Lakota used the gullies, the ravines, 339 00:24:01,500 --> 00:24:04,583 to encroach on the soldier position. 340 00:24:04,750 --> 00:24:07,792 They understand the terrain 341 00:24:07,917 --> 00:24:10,458 to a level that these soldiers simply cannot. 342 00:24:12,958 --> 00:24:16,500 [narrator] As US forces battle the Lakota, 343 00:24:17,333 --> 00:24:20,167 Custer's scout Bloody Knife 344 00:24:20,375 --> 00:24:23,250 is determined to get his revenge 345 00:24:23,417 --> 00:24:25,333 on the Lakota tribe that shunned him. 346 00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:27,125 [gun fires] 347 00:24:45,500 --> 00:24:48,000 [indistinct shouting] 348 00:24:58,542 --> 00:25:00,500 [gunshot cracks] 349 00:25:08,042 --> 00:25:10,375 [Jeffery] Looking back on Bloody Knife's life, 350 00:25:10,542 --> 00:25:12,250 he's really kind of a tragic figure. 351 00:25:12,375 --> 00:25:16,333 He could never achieve the peace 352 00:25:16,500 --> 00:25:18,625 or the happiness that he could have had 353 00:25:18,833 --> 00:25:22,083 if the Lakota had just fully adopted him into the nation. 354 00:25:22,250 --> 00:25:24,125 Very tragic figure. 355 00:25:24,292 --> 00:25:26,750 [indistinct shouting] 356 00:25:36,208 --> 00:25:38,208 [whoops] 357 00:25:53,042 --> 00:25:54,833 [Paul] Sitting Bull went up to the bluffs. 358 00:25:55,042 --> 00:25:57,292 From that high position, he could look back 359 00:25:57,458 --> 00:25:59,500 and he could see the dust 360 00:25:59,667 --> 00:26:03,000 and he could see that faint blue in the dust clouds, 361 00:26:03,208 --> 00:26:05,833 and he knew that Custer was coming to attack the village. 362 00:26:08,833 --> 00:26:10,958 [Jeffery] Custer believed that his march through the village 363 00:26:11,083 --> 00:26:13,875 was going to be this glorious charge 364 00:26:14,042 --> 00:26:15,667 that would annihilate his enemy between 365 00:26:15,750 --> 00:26:17,583 the hammer and the anvil. 366 00:26:21,125 --> 00:26:22,833 [guns firing] 367 00:26:36,667 --> 00:26:38,875 [indistinct shouting] 368 00:26:40,125 --> 00:26:41,833 Hold the line! 369 00:26:43,375 --> 00:26:45,000 Hold the line! 370 00:26:45,167 --> 00:26:47,000 [Mark Lee] The critical mistake Custer makes 371 00:26:47,208 --> 00:26:50,000 is dividing his regiment into three battalions, 372 00:26:50,167 --> 00:26:52,667 then striking from different positions. 373 00:26:52,875 --> 00:26:55,958 This allows the Lakotas under Crazy Horse and Gall 374 00:26:56,125 --> 00:26:58,833 to attack those units piecemeal and defeat them. 375 00:26:59,042 --> 00:27:03,000 Hold the line! Hold the line! 376 00:27:03,208 --> 00:27:06,667 [shouting] 377 00:27:06,875 --> 00:27:10,542 [narrator] Custer is outmanned and surrounded. 378 00:27:10,708 --> 00:27:14,000 [foreboding music plays] 379 00:27:35,542 --> 00:27:37,208 [gunshot cracks] 380 00:27:37,417 --> 00:27:39,875 [warriors cheering] 381 00:27:44,042 --> 00:27:46,500 [Courtney] The Calvary came charging. 382 00:27:46,667 --> 00:27:48,083 We charged right back and overwhelmed them. 383 00:27:48,250 --> 00:27:51,667 And there -- there lied Pehin Hanska, 384 00:27:51,875 --> 00:27:54,583 the Great Indian Killer, 385 00:27:54,750 --> 00:27:58,083 laying on a hill there, dead. 386 00:28:01,083 --> 00:28:04,042 History will tell us that Custer's ego 387 00:28:04,208 --> 00:28:06,500 and arrogance sealed his fate. 388 00:28:06,708 --> 00:28:08,458 Certainly, he was overconfident, 389 00:28:08,667 --> 00:28:11,042 attacking a village that size. 390 00:28:12,458 --> 00:28:14,833 And it was a cultural bias 391 00:28:15,042 --> 00:28:17,917 against this idea that one regiment 392 00:28:18,042 --> 00:28:21,083 could defeat any number of Native Americans. 393 00:28:22,250 --> 00:28:25,917 Custer did not know the confidence of the Lakota 394 00:28:26,125 --> 00:28:30,083 both as a nation and as warriors. 395 00:28:30,250 --> 00:28:33,125 [whoops] 396 00:28:33,792 --> 00:28:36,417 All of that confidence came to fore 397 00:28:36,542 --> 00:28:38,792 and ended up in Custer's demise. 398 00:28:39,542 --> 00:28:41,333 [narrator] In less than an hour, 399 00:28:41,500 --> 00:28:45,750 Sitting Bull's warriors wipe out Custer's 7th Cavalry. 400 00:28:45,917 --> 00:28:48,667 And celebrate an unprecedented victory 401 00:28:48,792 --> 00:28:51,375 against the United States. 402 00:29:07,167 --> 00:29:09,667 [narrator] On the banks of the Little Bighorn River, 403 00:29:09,833 --> 00:29:11,833 Sitting Bull and his warriors 404 00:29:12,042 --> 00:29:16,125 hand the US Army their largest defeat since the Civil War, 405 00:29:16,625 --> 00:29:19,833 263 soldiers are killed. 406 00:29:23,208 --> 00:29:24,958 [Shane] The Battle of the Little Bighorn 407 00:29:25,083 --> 00:29:26,750 was probably the greatest victory 408 00:29:26,917 --> 00:29:29,792 ever achieved by the Lakota people. 409 00:29:30,500 --> 00:29:33,000 You're talking about wiping out a fighting force 410 00:29:33,208 --> 00:29:36,000 that had really haunted them 411 00:29:36,125 --> 00:29:39,500 and killed many communities over decades. 412 00:29:40,208 --> 00:29:43,000 That victory at the Little Bighorn avenged that. 413 00:29:43,167 --> 00:29:46,458 You know, it was able to really come full circle, 414 00:29:46,625 --> 00:29:48,500 this cycle of trauma 415 00:29:48,625 --> 00:29:51,458 that the US Army had inflicted on these communities. 416 00:29:56,667 --> 00:29:58,625 [narrator] News of Custer's defeat 417 00:29:58,750 --> 00:30:02,333 won't reach the East Coast for a week. 418 00:30:03,250 --> 00:30:07,208 In the meantime, America celebrates its 100th birthday. 419 00:30:09,542 --> 00:30:11,125 Commemorating the moment 420 00:30:11,292 --> 00:30:13,208 with the country's first world's fair. 421 00:30:15,542 --> 00:30:18,208 [Paul] The Centennial celebration in Philadelphia 422 00:30:18,375 --> 00:30:20,250 was a celebration of American greatness. 423 00:30:20,458 --> 00:30:23,417 How we had emerged as a major industrial power. 424 00:30:24,917 --> 00:30:26,833 [narrator] The United States is starting to recover 425 00:30:27,042 --> 00:30:30,000 from the financial panic of 1873, 426 00:30:31,042 --> 00:30:33,833 and it uses the Centennial Exhibition 427 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,208 to proudly highlight its technological advancements. 428 00:30:39,042 --> 00:30:41,583 10 million visitors get the first look 429 00:30:41,750 --> 00:30:43,333 at revolutionary inventions 430 00:30:43,542 --> 00:30:46,292 like the telephone, 431 00:30:46,417 --> 00:30:48,083 the typewriter, 432 00:30:48,208 --> 00:30:51,083 and an early version of a monorail. 433 00:30:51,208 --> 00:30:55,292 Also on display is the arm and torch 434 00:30:55,417 --> 00:30:57,833 that will one day top the Statue of Liberty. 435 00:30:59,542 --> 00:31:01,667 Members of Congress are there. The President is there. 436 00:31:01,875 --> 00:31:04,000 Ultimately, millions of Americans are there. 437 00:31:04,167 --> 00:31:06,167 This great celebration of American greatness, 438 00:31:06,375 --> 00:31:09,083 of American progress, of American strength. 439 00:31:10,958 --> 00:31:12,917 [narrator] But the nation's celebratory mood 440 00:31:13,125 --> 00:31:14,917 is about to be broken. 441 00:31:17,083 --> 00:31:19,083 Just as those great, self-satisfying 442 00:31:19,250 --> 00:31:21,458 national celebrations were beginning, 443 00:31:21,542 --> 00:31:23,250 the news came from the West. 444 00:31:25,375 --> 00:31:28,917 Custer and his 7th Cavalry had been wiped out. 445 00:31:29,083 --> 00:31:31,792 When the country saw this, they were shocked. 446 00:31:32,667 --> 00:31:35,625 [Douglas] Even today, people who don't even know 447 00:31:35,792 --> 00:31:37,333 much about Native American history, 448 00:31:37,542 --> 00:31:40,417 most of them know about the Battle of Little Bighorn, 449 00:31:40,542 --> 00:31:43,333 and that's because it -- it shocked the -- 450 00:31:43,542 --> 00:31:45,000 the system of Americans. 451 00:31:45,208 --> 00:31:48,667 At the time, nobody expected 452 00:31:48,833 --> 00:31:52,375 that a soldier trained at West Point, like Custer, 453 00:31:52,542 --> 00:31:57,125 could have been given their comeuppance by Sitting Bull. 454 00:31:59,375 --> 00:32:01,125 [Edward] It's greeted in the same way 455 00:32:01,292 --> 00:32:03,167 that Lincoln's assassination shocked the nation. 456 00:32:03,292 --> 00:32:06,125 It has that same kind of wait, what? 457 00:32:06,292 --> 00:32:09,000 How could this possibly be for this ascendant nation 458 00:32:09,167 --> 00:32:11,667 that is finishing the job of conquering the West 459 00:32:11,875 --> 00:32:14,083 to have this major, major setback? 460 00:32:14,208 --> 00:32:16,042 [Paul] Sitting Bull suddenly becomes 461 00:32:16,167 --> 00:32:18,583 the most famous Indian in America. 462 00:32:18,792 --> 00:32:20,667 He's front page news anywhere. 463 00:32:20,833 --> 00:32:23,083 The New York Daily Graphic 464 00:32:23,208 --> 00:32:26,167 had an incredible image of Sitting Bull 465 00:32:26,375 --> 00:32:29,542 as almost a centaur, half man, half beast, 466 00:32:29,708 --> 00:32:33,500 and he's prancing over Custer's fallen corpse, 467 00:32:33,708 --> 00:32:35,833 clutching an American flag. 468 00:32:36,042 --> 00:32:39,083 Now indeed, everyone was for war. 469 00:32:39,250 --> 00:32:41,833 Custer must be avenged. 470 00:32:42,042 --> 00:32:44,458 The country wanted Sitting Bull's scalp. 471 00:32:46,083 --> 00:32:48,292 [narrator] In July 1876, 472 00:32:48,458 --> 00:32:50,667 just a week after news of Custer's defeat 473 00:32:50,875 --> 00:32:53,000 reaches Washington, 474 00:32:53,167 --> 00:32:56,583 Congress approves 2,500 more troops 475 00:32:56,792 --> 00:32:59,333 to move into Lakota Territory, 476 00:32:59,542 --> 00:33:03,000 to crush Sitting Bull's resistance 477 00:33:03,167 --> 00:33:05,083 once and for all. 478 00:33:07,417 --> 00:33:09,167 [Bill] There was no interest 479 00:33:09,375 --> 00:33:11,667 in hearing about Indian rights anymore. 480 00:33:11,833 --> 00:33:14,333 The army is given a free hand. 481 00:33:14,500 --> 00:33:17,667 They're allowed to do a relentless winter campaign 482 00:33:17,750 --> 00:33:20,667 to eradicate the hunting bands. 483 00:33:20,833 --> 00:33:24,583 [Mark] The US military decides to devote tremendous resources 484 00:33:24,750 --> 00:33:26,750 to bring them to terms. 485 00:33:26,917 --> 00:33:28,292 And they know that the winter months 486 00:33:28,458 --> 00:33:31,292 are the times to go after these bands, 487 00:33:31,458 --> 00:33:33,250 because they're most vulnerable. 488 00:33:42,958 --> 00:33:44,667 [horse neighs] 489 00:33:48,458 --> 00:33:50,167 [Paul] Sitting Bull was cautious. 490 00:33:50,375 --> 00:33:52,917 He knows that it's going to be impossible 491 00:33:53,083 --> 00:33:55,875 to defeat all of these soldiers. 492 00:33:56,042 --> 00:33:57,667 He's taking the long view. 493 00:33:57,833 --> 00:34:01,583 He's trying to do what's best for the people. 494 00:34:07,708 --> 00:34:09,417 [narrator] Sitting Bull knows 495 00:34:09,583 --> 00:34:11,458 he'll have to take his people on the run 496 00:34:11,625 --> 00:34:14,000 to stay away from the US soldiers. 497 00:34:14,208 --> 00:34:17,000 But with the camp nearing close to 7,000, men, 498 00:34:17,167 --> 00:34:19,167 women, and children, 499 00:34:19,375 --> 00:34:22,167 a tough decision needs to be made. 500 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,167 [narrator] Each tribe in a coalition will go its own way. 501 00:34:45,875 --> 00:34:49,500 Crazy Horse will take his people to the south, 502 00:34:50,042 --> 00:34:53,458 while Sitting Bull will lead his followers northeast. 503 00:34:54,917 --> 00:34:58,083 [plaintive music plays] 504 00:35:13,625 --> 00:35:15,625 The Lakota chief leads his followers 505 00:35:15,750 --> 00:35:18,542 toward Killdeer Mountain in the Dakota Territory, 506 00:35:18,708 --> 00:35:21,208 near the site of his first battle 507 00:35:21,375 --> 00:35:23,875 with the US Army 12 years earlier. 508 00:35:24,583 --> 00:35:28,333 For months, they managed to elude the US Army. 509 00:35:28,958 --> 00:35:30,708 But it comes at a cost. 510 00:35:32,417 --> 00:35:33,958 [Bill] They're physically exhausted. 511 00:35:34,125 --> 00:35:35,708 Their horses have nothing to eat. 512 00:35:35,917 --> 00:35:37,667 And if you're in those camps, 513 00:35:37,875 --> 00:35:39,667 you're fearful every night 514 00:35:39,875 --> 00:35:42,167 that there's another attack coming at dawn. 515 00:35:42,333 --> 00:35:45,833 Where will we move to next? How will we eat? 516 00:35:45,958 --> 00:35:48,333 And the army just keeps on coming. 517 00:36:01,042 --> 00:36:04,292 [narrator] To the south, Crazy Horse and his people 518 00:36:04,458 --> 00:36:06,542 are at a breaking point. 519 00:36:08,583 --> 00:36:10,708 [Mark Lee] By the spring of 1877, 520 00:36:10,875 --> 00:36:14,292 the winter campaigns have worked tremendously. 521 00:36:14,375 --> 00:36:16,333 Crazy Horse's people are starving. 522 00:36:16,500 --> 00:36:20,125 They had to have buffalo to survive 523 00:36:20,208 --> 00:36:22,792 and the herds were declining. 524 00:36:24,125 --> 00:36:25,917 [narrator] It's been eight years 525 00:36:26,042 --> 00:36:28,833 since the US began exterminating the buffalo, 526 00:36:28,958 --> 00:36:32,708 and now the Lakota's primary source of food 527 00:36:32,875 --> 00:36:34,917 is on the verge of extinction. 528 00:36:37,833 --> 00:36:40,292 [Megan Kate] It became clear that they were not going to 529 00:36:40,417 --> 00:36:42,333 be able to survive much longer 530 00:36:42,500 --> 00:36:45,708 with the bison herds at their current numbers. 531 00:36:49,958 --> 00:36:52,417 [narrator] As the situation becomes desperate, 532 00:36:52,583 --> 00:36:56,667 a figure from Crazy Horse's past appears, 533 00:36:56,792 --> 00:37:00,625 the Oglala leader he parted ways with, Red Cloud, 534 00:37:02,333 --> 00:37:04,708 offering a way out. 535 00:37:05,875 --> 00:37:08,375 After signing the Treaty of Fort Laramie, 536 00:37:08,583 --> 00:37:11,125 Red Cloud has remained a prominent leader 537 00:37:11,292 --> 00:37:13,333 of the Lakota living on the reservation. 538 00:37:13,500 --> 00:37:16,875 But he's never forgotten those who fought alongside him. 539 00:37:35,750 --> 00:37:38,292 [Paul] Red Cloud was constantly sending out peace feelers, 540 00:37:38,417 --> 00:37:40,333 trying to bring Crazy Horse in. 541 00:37:40,542 --> 00:37:43,167 Either you continue to fight 542 00:37:43,333 --> 00:37:45,583 and the women and children starve to death, 543 00:37:45,750 --> 00:37:47,458 or you come in. 544 00:37:48,625 --> 00:37:51,708 [narrator] On April 27th, 1877, 545 00:37:51,875 --> 00:37:53,917 Crazy Horse surrenders, 546 00:37:56,042 --> 00:37:59,917 vowing to never wage war on the battlefield again. 547 00:39:32,708 --> 00:39:34,375 [narrator] Sitting Bull knows of a place 548 00:39:34,542 --> 00:39:36,917 where the US soldiers can't follow them, 549 00:39:38,250 --> 00:39:40,042 Canada. 550 00:39:43,583 --> 00:39:45,667 [Jeffery] His decision to lead them to Canada 551 00:39:45,875 --> 00:39:48,083 was based upon the idea that there's literally gonna be 552 00:39:48,250 --> 00:39:49,667 no safe place they can go 553 00:39:49,875 --> 00:39:51,500 within the borders of the United States, 554 00:39:51,667 --> 00:39:53,833 that the United States Army won't find them. 555 00:39:54,708 --> 00:39:56,500 [narrator] His people have called the Great Plains home 556 00:39:56,667 --> 00:39:58,500 for generations. 557 00:39:58,708 --> 00:40:01,042 But in order to keep them safe, 558 00:40:01,583 --> 00:40:04,458 they must now leave it behind. 559 00:40:21,542 --> 00:40:23,167 [narrator] A year after their victory 560 00:40:23,333 --> 00:40:25,208 at the Battle of Little Bighorn, 561 00:40:25,375 --> 00:40:27,625 Sitting Bull and his followers 562 00:40:27,750 --> 00:40:30,083 cross the US border into Canada, 563 00:40:30,208 --> 00:40:32,667 where they know the US Army can't reach them. 564 00:40:34,667 --> 00:40:36,500 The Lakota term for the 49th parallel, 565 00:40:36,708 --> 00:40:38,333 the border between the US and Canada, 566 00:40:38,542 --> 00:40:40,167 was the medicine line, 567 00:40:40,292 --> 00:40:42,958 and by medicine they meant something of great power. 568 00:40:43,125 --> 00:40:46,000 This invisible line that actually only exists on maps 569 00:40:46,208 --> 00:40:48,167 has power to prevent 570 00:40:48,375 --> 00:40:50,458 the US military from crossing it. 571 00:40:53,750 --> 00:40:57,500 [narrator] Buffalo, the Lakotas most important food source, 572 00:40:57,667 --> 00:40:59,917 is still found north of the border. 573 00:41:00,125 --> 00:41:02,875 The herds migrate from the US into Canada 574 00:41:03,083 --> 00:41:06,000 when the spring rains bring fresh grass, 575 00:41:06,167 --> 00:41:09,458 allowing the Lakota to continue to hunt them. 576 00:41:14,875 --> 00:41:16,958 [Shane] Sitting Bull led his people to Canada 577 00:41:17,125 --> 00:41:20,500 because he believed that that was the last place 578 00:41:20,708 --> 00:41:22,875 where they could still live the old way of life. 579 00:41:33,875 --> 00:41:35,875 [narrator] But as Sitting Bull settles into Canada, 580 00:41:38,167 --> 00:41:40,750 disturbing news reaches him. 581 00:41:59,875 --> 00:42:02,792 [narrator] After Crazy Horse surrenders to the reservation, 582 00:42:02,958 --> 00:42:05,083 to save his people from starvation, 583 00:42:05,250 --> 00:42:08,792 he is faced with new challenges. 584 00:42:09,542 --> 00:42:12,542 [Mark] The US officials wanted Crazy Horse and some of his men 585 00:42:12,708 --> 00:42:15,542 to go help fight other Native nations. 586 00:42:15,708 --> 00:42:20,292 And Crazy Horse said that's not what we agreed to do. 587 00:42:21,542 --> 00:42:25,542 What he encountered were whites who did not understand him. 588 00:42:25,708 --> 00:42:27,792 They thought he was just being belligerent. 589 00:42:28,667 --> 00:42:30,667 On top of all this, 590 00:42:30,833 --> 00:42:33,500 there were all these rumors swirling 591 00:42:33,708 --> 00:42:37,125 that Crazy Horse was going to kill a famed general. 592 00:42:37,208 --> 00:42:40,500 So, it was decided we're gonna arrest Crazy Horse 593 00:42:40,708 --> 00:42:42,542 and send him away. 594 00:42:46,542 --> 00:42:49,792 A man who had lived free his entire life, 595 00:42:49,875 --> 00:42:51,833 he's going to be confined. 596 00:42:51,958 --> 00:42:55,083 His worst fears are realized and he struggles. 597 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:01,833 And finally an officer yells to kill the son of a bitch. 598 00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:13,083 [narrator] On September 5th, 1877, 599 00:43:13,250 --> 00:43:15,167 Crazy Horse, 600 00:43:15,375 --> 00:43:17,875 the Lakota's greatest warrior, 601 00:43:18,042 --> 00:43:19,708 is killed. 602 00:43:32,208 --> 00:43:34,042 [Paul] Sitting Bull was, of course, devastated 603 00:43:34,208 --> 00:43:36,542 by the news of the death of Crazy Horse. 604 00:43:36,708 --> 00:43:40,750 It was a very clear sign of the fate that awaited him 605 00:43:41,833 --> 00:43:45,000 if he ever surrendered to the blue coats. 606 00:43:48,750 --> 00:43:50,667 [narrator] Sitting Bull knows that fleeing to Canada 607 00:43:50,875 --> 00:43:52,875 was the best choice for his people. 608 00:43:54,500 --> 00:43:56,875 But even here, he's not safe. 609 00:44:01,792 --> 00:44:05,958 Back east, Ulysses S Grant 610 00:44:06,083 --> 00:44:08,750 is succeeded by the nation's 19th president, 611 00:44:10,333 --> 00:44:12,458 Rutherford B. Hayes, 612 00:44:12,625 --> 00:44:15,792 whose government is still intent on punishing the Lakota 613 00:44:15,875 --> 00:44:18,333 for their victory at Little Bighorn. 614 00:44:20,750 --> 00:44:22,583 [Douglas] Rutherford B Hayes, in many ways, 615 00:44:22,750 --> 00:44:24,708 is a very enlightened president, 616 00:44:24,833 --> 00:44:27,875 but he had the burden of the Battle of Little Bighorn, 617 00:44:28,042 --> 00:44:29,750 and Americans don't like losing. 618 00:44:29,875 --> 00:44:32,333 So, the American people were demanding 619 00:44:32,458 --> 00:44:36,667 that he deal with a firm hand on the Indian problem, 620 00:44:36,833 --> 00:44:40,042 or else he would be seen as weak on national security. 621 00:44:40,917 --> 00:44:43,833 [narrator] President Hayes needs to avenge Custer, 622 00:44:43,958 --> 00:44:46,125 but he can't send troops into Canada 623 00:44:46,292 --> 00:44:49,208 without damaging international relations, 624 00:44:51,292 --> 00:44:53,750 so his government comes up with another solution. 625 00:44:53,875 --> 00:44:57,333 [ominous music plays] 626 00:45:16,375 --> 00:45:19,375 [fire crackling in distance] 627 00:45:33,458 --> 00:45:37,333 The US Army actually begins to burn large swaths of grassland 628 00:45:37,542 --> 00:45:39,333 on the Canadian border 629 00:45:39,542 --> 00:45:41,125 in order to prevent buffalo, 630 00:45:41,292 --> 00:45:43,500 that normally would migrate up into that area from doing so, 631 00:45:43,708 --> 00:45:45,667 so that there would be less buffalo for the Natives 632 00:45:45,792 --> 00:45:47,750 who were living in Canada to hunt. 633 00:45:50,083 --> 00:45:52,625 [narrator] While Canada seemed like the ideal new home 634 00:45:52,792 --> 00:45:54,417 for Sitting Bull and his followers, 635 00:45:56,125 --> 00:45:58,917 now it's only a matter of time 636 00:45:59,083 --> 00:46:01,292 before they starve there. 637 00:46:16,625 --> 00:46:18,333 [narrator] In the fall of 1880, 638 00:46:18,542 --> 00:46:20,750 Sitting Bull sees his peoples' situation 639 00:46:20,917 --> 00:46:23,167 take a turn for the worse. 640 00:46:24,875 --> 00:46:27,000 Canada was cold 641 00:46:27,167 --> 00:46:28,917 and the buffalo had been exterminated, 642 00:46:29,083 --> 00:46:31,917 and Sitting Bull was having a hard time 643 00:46:32,083 --> 00:46:34,042 feeding his own people. 644 00:46:39,875 --> 00:46:41,833 [narrator] Throughout the winter, 645 00:46:41,958 --> 00:46:46,000 sickness and starvation threatened the entire village. 646 00:46:46,167 --> 00:46:50,208 But Sitting Bull refuses to surrender. 647 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:56,083 [Paul] Dissension starts building. 648 00:46:57,208 --> 00:47:00,208 And people start talking about maybe we should go back. 649 00:47:07,208 --> 00:47:09,792 [narrator] Even Sitting Bull's closest ally, Gall, 650 00:47:09,917 --> 00:47:13,042 begins to question his judgment. 651 00:47:45,042 --> 00:47:50,417 Gall saw that this was a problem 652 00:47:50,583 --> 00:47:52,542 that wasn't going to go away. 653 00:47:55,083 --> 00:47:58,458 Sitting Bull was still of the mindset of resistance. 654 00:47:58,625 --> 00:48:01,417 He wanted to be the last Indian fighting. 655 00:48:10,042 --> 00:48:12,083 [narrator] Since they were children, 656 00:48:12,250 --> 00:48:14,167 Gall has always been by Sitting Bull's side, 657 00:48:14,375 --> 00:48:17,208 a loyal brother and warrior. 658 00:48:17,375 --> 00:48:22,375 But now he realizes he must take a stand. 659 00:48:24,500 --> 00:48:26,125 [William] Gall did not think that Sitting Bull 660 00:48:26,292 --> 00:48:29,042 was acting in the best interests of all Lakotas. 661 00:48:29,208 --> 00:48:31,375 He recognized that their people were starving 662 00:48:31,542 --> 00:48:33,292 and he was faced with a difficult choice. 663 00:48:33,458 --> 00:48:36,083 Would he remain kind of fighting against the United States, 664 00:48:36,208 --> 00:48:38,792 or would he think about those people who were starving 665 00:48:38,958 --> 00:48:41,417 and -- and how to best provide for others? 666 00:48:43,833 --> 00:48:47,042 [somber music plays] 667 00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:23,042 [narrator] In November 1880, 668 00:49:23,208 --> 00:49:25,958 Gall parts ways with Sitting Bull 669 00:49:26,167 --> 00:49:30,042 and returns to the US to surrender. 670 00:49:30,208 --> 00:49:33,208 Over 300 people follow him. 671 00:49:47,542 --> 00:49:51,500 The exodus continues over the next several months 672 00:49:52,625 --> 00:49:55,250 as hundreds more Lakota choose to surrender. 673 00:49:57,667 --> 00:49:59,792 [Clay] During that time, one after another 674 00:49:59,958 --> 00:50:03,083 of his principal colleagues and their people spin off 675 00:50:03,292 --> 00:50:05,625 and go down across the border and surrender. 676 00:50:05,792 --> 00:50:08,417 The numbers of the resistance keep dropping precipitously, 677 00:50:08,583 --> 00:50:10,250 and from Sitting Bull's point of view, 678 00:50:10,375 --> 00:50:12,250 there are lots of betrayals. 679 00:50:14,292 --> 00:50:16,167 [Edward] One by one, sometimes in large groups, 680 00:50:16,292 --> 00:50:18,000 sometimes as individuals, 681 00:50:18,208 --> 00:50:19,875 they cross back into the United States, 682 00:50:20,042 --> 00:50:23,125 surrender and take up residence on reservations. 683 00:50:25,542 --> 00:50:28,292 [narrator] Now, in the village that was once home 684 00:50:28,500 --> 00:50:32,708 to over 1,000, fewer than 400 remain. 685 00:50:43,083 --> 00:50:45,417 [Edward] Sitting Bull is out of options. 686 00:50:45,583 --> 00:50:47,333 His people are literally starving to death, 687 00:50:47,458 --> 00:50:49,333 they are dying of sickness, 688 00:50:49,500 --> 00:50:52,500 and he has to make a tough moral calculation. 689 00:50:52,708 --> 00:50:55,292 Do I hold out on principle and we all die, 690 00:50:55,417 --> 00:50:58,208 or do we head back and some of us survive, 691 00:50:58,375 --> 00:51:00,167 and maybe we can find some way 692 00:51:00,333 --> 00:51:03,125 to create a new life that is at least somewhat noble 693 00:51:03,250 --> 00:51:06,042 and sustaining for us under new circumstances? 694 00:51:11,708 --> 00:51:14,083 [narrator] On July 20th, 1881, 695 00:51:14,250 --> 00:51:17,292 after four years in Canada, 696 00:51:18,708 --> 00:51:23,333 Sitting Bull makes the hardest decision of his life. 697 00:51:25,292 --> 00:51:28,333 [somber music plays] 698 00:51:46,708 --> 00:51:48,792 [narrator] With his people facing starvation, 699 00:51:48,917 --> 00:51:52,250 Sitting Bull finally surrenders to US authorities. 700 00:51:59,458 --> 00:52:01,833 [Clay] It took months for him to finally decide 701 00:52:02,042 --> 00:52:03,667 that the situation was hopeless 702 00:52:03,833 --> 00:52:06,875 and that he had no choice but to come in. 703 00:52:07,042 --> 00:52:09,625 He's essentially been reduced to this 704 00:52:09,750 --> 00:52:13,375 and so, this is a period of sadness and loss. 705 00:52:14,542 --> 00:52:16,542 [William] The Lakota people were starving. 706 00:52:16,708 --> 00:52:19,208 There were few of them remaining in Canada 707 00:52:19,375 --> 00:52:21,292 and so, it made sense at this time to kind of finally 708 00:52:21,375 --> 00:52:23,500 surrender and come back to the United States. 709 00:52:23,708 --> 00:52:25,792 In order to survive. 710 00:52:30,417 --> 00:52:32,042 [narrator] The Lakota leader 711 00:52:32,208 --> 00:52:34,333 and close to 170 of his followers 712 00:52:34,542 --> 00:52:36,708 are transported south to Fort Randall 713 00:52:36,875 --> 00:52:39,167 near the Nebraska-Dakota border 714 00:52:39,375 --> 00:52:43,417 and held as prisoners of war. 715 00:52:46,375 --> 00:52:48,292 [Edward] Many US officials are vengeful. 716 00:52:48,458 --> 00:52:50,333 They see him as the slayer of Custer. 717 00:52:50,500 --> 00:52:52,667 They also see him as the great resistor, 718 00:52:52,792 --> 00:52:55,500 the person who has inspired sustained levels of resistance 719 00:52:55,667 --> 00:52:57,833 among all Native peoples on the Great Plains. 720 00:52:58,042 --> 00:53:00,500 And so, they want to punish him. 721 00:53:01,750 --> 00:53:03,750 [narrator] But while the government views Sitting Bull 722 00:53:03,958 --> 00:53:05,958 as a dangerous enemy, 723 00:53:06,125 --> 00:53:10,417 the American public is starting to feel differently. 724 00:53:13,000 --> 00:53:15,292 [Paul] While Sitting Bull's at Fort Randall, 725 00:53:15,458 --> 00:53:18,125 he suddenly discovers that he's something of a celebrity. 726 00:53:18,292 --> 00:53:20,542 His surrender has made headlines. 727 00:53:20,708 --> 00:53:22,333 And all the country's talking about him 728 00:53:22,500 --> 00:53:24,042 and people are seeking him out. 729 00:53:24,208 --> 00:53:25,875 Of course, reporters are coming in. 730 00:53:26,042 --> 00:53:27,667 Everyone wants to interview him. 731 00:53:27,875 --> 00:53:30,375 [Jeffery] For the people on the East Coast 732 00:53:30,542 --> 00:53:33,250 that were absolutely under no threat of Sitting Bull, 733 00:53:33,417 --> 00:53:35,500 he becomes kind of a folk hero. 734 00:53:35,625 --> 00:53:37,292 In the United States, where freedom 735 00:53:37,458 --> 00:53:39,500 is the foundation of our society, 736 00:53:39,625 --> 00:53:42,458 here is this man who fought for freedom for his people. 737 00:53:43,500 --> 00:53:45,542 [Edward] He's gone from being public enemy number one 738 00:53:45,708 --> 00:53:48,667 to an object of great fascination, even admiration, 739 00:53:48,875 --> 00:53:51,250 and Sitting Bull becomes quite aware of that. 740 00:53:51,375 --> 00:53:54,292 [narrator] As Sitting Bull's celebrity grows, 741 00:53:54,458 --> 00:53:58,208 many began petitioning for his pardon. 742 00:54:06,583 --> 00:54:10,333 In May 1883, federal officials release Sitting Bull 743 00:54:10,542 --> 00:54:12,583 and his followers from captivity, 744 00:54:12,708 --> 00:54:17,792 to join the Lakota people on the Great Sioux Reservation. 745 00:54:22,333 --> 00:54:25,500 He's transferred to the Standing Rock Agency. 746 00:54:30,708 --> 00:54:34,667 Established in 1873 as part of the Great Sioux Reservation, 747 00:54:34,792 --> 00:54:37,167 Standing Rock straddles the border 748 00:54:37,375 --> 00:54:39,500 of modern day North and South Dakota. 749 00:54:39,708 --> 00:54:44,250 When Sitting Bull arrives, there are more than 4,000 Lakota 750 00:54:44,458 --> 00:54:46,208 living on the reservation, 751 00:54:46,375 --> 00:54:48,917 all of whom depend on the US government 752 00:54:49,083 --> 00:54:53,667 to provide shelter, clothing, and food rations. 753 00:54:59,667 --> 00:55:03,833 The man appointed by the government to oversee it 754 00:55:04,042 --> 00:55:06,500 is James McLaughlin. 755 00:55:07,667 --> 00:55:09,458 [William] Indian agents like McLaughlin saw themselves 756 00:55:09,625 --> 00:55:11,375 at the top of a leadership pyramid 757 00:55:11,542 --> 00:55:13,000 that other people should be following. 758 00:55:13,125 --> 00:55:15,000 He wanted to assimilate Indigenous peoples 759 00:55:15,125 --> 00:55:17,125 into American society. 760 00:55:17,250 --> 00:55:19,208 Teach Indigenous men how to farm, 761 00:55:19,375 --> 00:55:22,125 teach Indigenous women how to take care of households, 762 00:55:22,292 --> 00:55:24,833 and then to convert them to Christianity. 763 00:55:35,542 --> 00:55:39,667 I believe in two things, God and discipline. 764 00:55:39,833 --> 00:55:42,250 I find if you nurture your faith, 765 00:55:42,417 --> 00:55:44,750 you'll find that a hard day's work 766 00:55:44,917 --> 00:55:46,750 can help the soul. 767 00:55:46,958 --> 00:55:51,292 Everyone here farms the land they are assigned. 768 00:55:51,417 --> 00:55:53,750 You eat when you grow. There are no free rides. 769 00:55:55,875 --> 00:55:58,167 Could you translate that for him, dear? 770 00:55:58,292 --> 00:56:02,333 [speaking Indigenous language] 771 00:56:08,625 --> 00:56:10,750 [Jeffrey] When Sitting Bull comes to Standing Rock, 772 00:56:10,875 --> 00:56:14,458 he realizes the chiefs no longer have any real power 773 00:56:14,583 --> 00:56:16,792 or influence over the people that follow them 774 00:56:16,917 --> 00:56:19,500 because the Indian agent has all of that power. 775 00:56:21,667 --> 00:56:23,833 [Mark Lee] After Custer, 776 00:56:23,958 --> 00:56:26,167 Sitting Bull's greatest adversary in the white world 777 00:56:26,333 --> 00:56:28,333 was James McLaughlin. 778 00:56:28,458 --> 00:56:31,833 He refused to respect who Sitting Bull was 779 00:56:32,042 --> 00:56:35,167 and the reverence in which he was held by his followers. 780 00:56:36,792 --> 00:56:38,833 James McLaughlin made it very clear, 781 00:56:39,000 --> 00:56:41,333 you're just another Lakota as far as I'm concerned, 782 00:56:41,500 --> 00:56:43,917 and you'll do everything else that the Lakotas do. 783 00:56:46,958 --> 00:56:49,833 [narrator] Once the leader of a proud and free people, 784 00:56:50,042 --> 00:56:53,000 Sitting Bull struggles to accept how much has changed 785 00:56:53,208 --> 00:56:55,083 in the time he was in exile. 786 00:56:57,250 --> 00:56:58,750 [Clay] In 1883, 787 00:56:58,917 --> 00:57:01,833 he's been gone from his home country for six years now. 788 00:57:01,958 --> 00:57:03,542 When he gets back, 789 00:57:03,708 --> 00:57:05,458 the Northern Pacific Railroad isn't complete, 790 00:57:05,583 --> 00:57:08,000 but it's soon going to make its way through Montana. 791 00:57:08,167 --> 00:57:09,708 It's just a matter of completing the track. 792 00:57:09,917 --> 00:57:11,708 And of course, once gold had been discovered 793 00:57:11,917 --> 00:57:13,833 in the Black Hills, it was inevitable 794 00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:18,667 that white America would simply push anyone out of the way 795 00:57:18,875 --> 00:57:21,708 who prevented us from getting at those minerals. 796 00:57:21,875 --> 00:57:23,833 And that's exactly what happened. 797 00:57:25,750 --> 00:57:29,000 [Bill] The changes must have been so dramatic 798 00:57:29,167 --> 00:57:33,833 and so disheartening to such a proud leader of the Lakota. 799 00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:37,542 I can only imagine that's what Sitting Bull 800 00:57:37,708 --> 00:57:41,458 is feeling in this new reality that he has to confront. 801 00:57:46,208 --> 00:57:48,167 [narrator] Even greater changes are taking place 802 00:57:48,375 --> 00:57:50,042 among Sitting Bull's people 803 00:57:50,208 --> 00:57:52,875 as they increasingly adopt white culture. 804 00:58:01,208 --> 00:58:04,458 [melancholy music plays] 805 00:58:18,375 --> 00:58:20,250 [gunshot cracks] 806 00:58:21,167 --> 00:58:22,875 [whoops] 807 00:59:02,708 --> 00:59:04,333 [Mark Lee] Gall starts out 808 00:59:04,542 --> 00:59:05,875 as a lieutenant under Sitting Bull 809 00:59:06,042 --> 00:59:09,250 and he's a very prominent warrior, a brave warrior, 810 00:59:09,417 --> 00:59:12,417 but they diverge. 811 00:59:12,542 --> 00:59:14,458 Gall sees a different path. 812 00:59:14,542 --> 00:59:17,375 He sees that maybe it's better to accommodate 813 00:59:17,500 --> 00:59:20,000 and to work with the white man. 814 00:59:20,125 --> 00:59:22,792 He becomes a real favorite of Agent McLaughlin. 815 00:59:25,625 --> 00:59:27,208 [narrator] As he sees assimilation 816 00:59:27,375 --> 00:59:30,833 destroying the traditions he fought so hard to preserve, 817 00:59:34,167 --> 00:59:37,833 Sitting Bull is determined to remind his people 818 00:59:38,000 --> 00:59:40,583 what it means to be Lakota. 819 00:59:51,167 --> 00:59:54,417 [narrator] Sitting Bull has now lived at Standing Rock 820 00:59:54,583 --> 00:59:56,333 for three years, 821 00:59:56,500 --> 00:59:58,167 but for the legendary chief, 822 00:59:58,333 --> 01:00:00,833 a man who led the Lakota's fierce resistance 823 01:00:01,042 --> 01:00:03,042 against the US for decades, 824 01:00:03,208 --> 01:00:06,125 the adjustment has been a struggle. 825 01:00:12,667 --> 01:00:15,917 Sitting Bull represents in his soul, in his fiber, 826 01:00:16,042 --> 01:00:18,208 in his whole being, the old way of life. 827 01:00:18,375 --> 01:00:23,042 And he was horrified to see that folks were, in fact, 828 01:00:23,208 --> 01:00:26,917 becoming assimilated into the white world. 829 01:00:27,083 --> 01:00:29,167 [Clay] Many are dressed now in white man's clothing. 830 01:00:29,375 --> 01:00:32,250 Their diet has changed. There's no hunting. 831 01:00:32,417 --> 01:00:35,750 They have to get release forms to leave the reservation at all. 832 01:00:42,792 --> 01:00:44,208 [narrator] Many at Standing Rock 833 01:00:44,375 --> 01:00:46,417 have never known true freedom on the Great Plains, 834 01:00:48,167 --> 01:00:51,208 so Sitting Bull begins sharing his stories, 835 01:00:51,375 --> 01:00:55,333 hoping to keep the history of the Lakota alive. 836 01:00:56,208 --> 01:00:59,583 Sitting Bull had such a reputation as a great warrior, 837 01:00:59,708 --> 01:01:01,708 as a great spiritual leader. 838 01:01:01,875 --> 01:01:04,583 And more and more young people began to flock 839 01:01:04,750 --> 01:01:08,167 to hear his stories, to embrace the oral tradition. 840 01:01:08,292 --> 01:01:10,292 Just as Sitting Bull had heard the stories 841 01:01:10,458 --> 01:01:14,875 of the past glories of the Lakota before he was born, 842 01:01:15,083 --> 01:01:17,792 now he began to tell these stories. 843 01:01:24,458 --> 01:01:25,917 [narrator] For James McLaughlin, 844 01:01:26,042 --> 01:01:28,250 the Indian agent at Standing Rock, 845 01:01:28,417 --> 01:01:31,500 Sitting Bull's actions are a direct threat 846 01:01:31,667 --> 01:01:34,208 to his plan to fully assimilate the Lakota. 847 01:01:37,208 --> 01:01:39,875 [Jeffery] Sitting Bull is talking about a time 848 01:01:40,042 --> 01:01:41,917 when the Lakota were free and sovereign, 849 01:01:42,083 --> 01:01:44,750 and that is exactly the opposite 850 01:01:44,875 --> 01:01:47,458 of what McLaughlin wants the message to be. 851 01:01:49,708 --> 01:01:51,833 [Paul] Sitting Bull worried McLaughlin. 852 01:01:52,000 --> 01:01:54,250 He worried him because he was holding on to the old ways, 853 01:01:54,375 --> 01:01:57,292 and most importantly, because he was so influential. 854 01:01:57,458 --> 01:02:00,667 And that was tough for McLaughlin to battle. 855 01:02:00,833 --> 01:02:03,708 Somehow he had to shut Sitting Bull down. 856 01:02:07,792 --> 01:02:09,500 Thank you. 857 01:02:14,042 --> 01:02:16,333 [narrator] In May of 1885, 858 01:02:16,458 --> 01:02:21,000 McLaughlin receives a message from Buffalo Bill Cody. 859 01:02:23,500 --> 01:02:27,000 [Paul] Buffalo Bill Cody lived two very distinct lives. 860 01:02:27,125 --> 01:02:30,708 He was a frontiersman and a buffalo hunter. 861 01:02:30,875 --> 01:02:33,333 He lived the Wild West, 862 01:02:33,500 --> 01:02:35,875 and then he reinvented it and he took it on the road. 863 01:02:37,417 --> 01:02:39,167 [Edward] Buffalo Bill realizes 864 01:02:39,333 --> 01:02:42,167 that there's an insatiable appetite in the east 865 01:02:42,333 --> 01:02:44,333 for stories, for lore, 866 01:02:44,417 --> 01:02:46,000 for legends coming out of the west, 867 01:02:46,208 --> 01:02:48,833 and in 1883 he puts together 868 01:02:49,042 --> 01:02:52,167 what is effectively a circus about the West, 869 01:02:52,292 --> 01:02:54,750 and he calls it Buffalo Bill's Wild West. 870 01:02:55,708 --> 01:02:57,667 He is going to present 871 01:02:57,833 --> 01:02:59,833 authentic vignettes, authentic stories, 872 01:03:00,000 --> 01:03:03,292 authentic reenactments of things in the west. 873 01:03:04,625 --> 01:03:07,875 [narrator] By the mid-1880s, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show 874 01:03:08,042 --> 01:03:12,667 is a worldwide phenomenon, with crowds as big as 20,000. 875 01:03:12,750 --> 01:03:15,583 People are turning out to see sharpshooting displays, 876 01:03:15,708 --> 01:03:18,083 rodeo performances, 877 01:03:18,250 --> 01:03:21,417 and reenactments of famous battles of the west. 878 01:03:22,208 --> 01:03:24,875 [William] There was this notion that the viewers were seeing 879 01:03:25,083 --> 01:03:28,000 kind of an authentic version of what had happened. 880 01:03:28,167 --> 01:03:30,917 So, if you're a person attending a Wild West show 881 01:03:31,042 --> 01:03:33,333 in New York City, the odds are pretty good 882 01:03:33,458 --> 01:03:35,042 that actual Lakotas 883 01:03:35,208 --> 01:03:37,000 who had participated in the Battle of Little Bighorn 884 01:03:37,208 --> 01:03:39,917 would be on stage performing the battle for you. 885 01:03:41,542 --> 01:03:43,833 [narrator] Now, Buffalo Bill wants to bring on 886 01:03:44,000 --> 01:03:46,083 the most famous Native leader in America. 887 01:03:48,667 --> 01:03:50,125 [Edward] Given the tensions 888 01:03:50,333 --> 01:03:52,333 between Sitting Bull and McLaughlin, 889 01:03:52,500 --> 01:03:54,708 you would think that McLaughlin would block such a request. 890 01:03:54,875 --> 01:03:56,667 But he has it in his mind 891 01:03:56,875 --> 01:03:58,333 that sending Sitting Bull on this tour 892 01:03:58,500 --> 01:04:01,750 will expose him to the greater, wider white world 893 01:04:01,917 --> 01:04:04,083 and he will see the virtues 894 01:04:04,208 --> 01:04:05,833 and the astonishing accomplishments 895 01:04:06,042 --> 01:04:07,833 of white civilization. 896 01:04:08,042 --> 01:04:11,042 And this will somehow hasten his acceptance of white ways. 897 01:04:11,208 --> 01:04:12,917 And that will then trickle down 898 01:04:13,083 --> 01:04:14,792 to the rest of his -- his people. 899 01:04:14,958 --> 01:04:16,958 [door slams shut] 900 01:04:19,083 --> 01:04:21,958 Please have a seat. 901 01:04:25,792 --> 01:04:27,958 I've received a letter 902 01:04:28,042 --> 01:04:31,625 directing you to go on tour across the United States, 903 01:04:31,792 --> 01:04:33,375 with a man named Buffalo Bill Cody. 904 01:04:33,542 --> 01:04:35,250 It's a Wild West tour. 905 01:04:35,375 --> 01:04:37,833 In it, you'll be able to travel the country. 906 01:04:38,000 --> 01:04:40,375 Tell your story. 907 01:04:40,542 --> 01:04:41,917 Dear. 908 01:04:42,125 --> 01:04:45,292 [speaking Indigenous language] 909 01:04:49,375 --> 01:04:51,208 [narrator] While McLaughlin sees this as a way 910 01:04:51,375 --> 01:04:53,333 to get Sitting Bull to assimilate... 911 01:04:53,500 --> 01:04:55,958 [speaking Lakota] 912 01:04:56,083 --> 01:04:58,875 He wants to know when he leaves. 913 01:04:59,042 --> 01:05:02,250 [narrator] Sitting Bull sees an opportunity. 914 01:05:02,375 --> 01:05:05,167 [train rumbling] 915 01:05:06,125 --> 01:05:09,000 On June 6th, 1885, 916 01:05:09,167 --> 01:05:12,292 Sitting Bull leaves the reservation, 917 01:05:12,500 --> 01:05:16,458 joining the Wild West show for a four-month tour. 918 01:05:23,375 --> 01:05:25,042 And just as Buffalo Bill had hoped, 919 01:05:25,208 --> 01:05:27,167 ticket sales skyrocket, 920 01:05:27,375 --> 01:05:30,417 as curious audiences turn out to see 921 01:05:30,583 --> 01:05:33,417 the legendary warrior who took Custer down. 922 01:05:36,708 --> 01:05:39,167 Bill Cody knew 923 01:05:39,250 --> 01:05:42,167 of the popularity of Sitting Bull 924 01:05:42,375 --> 01:05:44,583 because of the defeat of Custer. 925 01:05:44,792 --> 01:05:47,208 He was a draw to the show. 926 01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:53,708 [narrator] Free from the constraints 927 01:05:53,833 --> 01:05:58,000 of the reservation, Sitting Bull seizes the moment. 928 01:05:58,208 --> 01:06:00,167 [Jeffrey] For Sitting Bull, it's an opportunity 929 01:06:00,292 --> 01:06:02,000 not only to get paid 930 01:06:02,125 --> 01:06:03,583 and send this money back to the reservation, 931 01:06:03,750 --> 01:06:06,500 but it's also a chance to get out from McLaughlin's control. 932 01:06:09,250 --> 01:06:10,958 [narrator] Most importantly, 933 01:06:11,167 --> 01:06:14,167 it offers him the chance to tell the story of his life 934 01:06:14,375 --> 01:06:18,375 and his people to the American public. 935 01:06:21,375 --> 01:06:23,167 [Edward] Sitting Bull thinks that he might have 936 01:06:23,250 --> 01:06:26,167 some positive impact to maybe tamp down the hostility 937 01:06:26,292 --> 01:06:28,667 of the US military and US officials 938 01:06:28,833 --> 01:06:30,292 on the reservations. 939 01:06:30,417 --> 01:06:32,417 He wasn't simply going along for the show. 940 01:06:32,583 --> 01:06:34,917 He was clearly trying to accomplish something. 941 01:06:35,083 --> 01:06:37,000 [crowd cheers] 942 01:06:39,167 --> 01:06:41,250 [narrator] Sitting Bull's appearances 943 01:06:41,417 --> 01:06:43,500 catapult him into the worldwide spotlight. 944 01:06:46,542 --> 01:06:48,750 Here he was in the center of things. 945 01:06:54,833 --> 01:06:57,333 [Shane] Even after losing the war, 946 01:06:57,542 --> 01:07:00,000 even after having been confined to the reservation, 947 01:07:00,125 --> 01:07:02,083 he was able to reinvent himself again. 948 01:07:02,208 --> 01:07:04,958 The Wild West show 949 01:07:05,125 --> 01:07:07,083 really helped his vision come to fruition 950 01:07:07,208 --> 01:07:08,750 that he would be known throughout the world 951 01:07:08,875 --> 01:07:12,875 amongst all nations as a leader, as a man of great pride, 952 01:07:13,042 --> 01:07:15,375 of great dignity, of great vision. 953 01:07:15,542 --> 01:07:18,000 And that he could never really be defeated. 954 01:07:18,167 --> 01:07:21,167 [crowd cheers] 955 01:07:22,833 --> 01:07:26,250 [train whistle bellows] 956 01:07:26,417 --> 01:07:28,625 [narrator] But the Wild West Tour doesn't just raise 957 01:07:28,750 --> 01:07:30,083 Sitting Bull's profile. 958 01:07:30,250 --> 01:07:32,708 It opens his eyes. 959 01:07:33,833 --> 01:07:35,958 [Edward] He was traveling through an incredibly wealthy, 960 01:07:36,125 --> 01:07:37,875 advanced society, 961 01:07:38,083 --> 01:07:39,500 and yet, when he was in New York City, 962 01:07:39,667 --> 01:07:42,500 the city has hundreds of people begging on the streets. 963 01:07:42,667 --> 01:07:44,208 Homeless people, 964 01:07:44,333 --> 01:07:46,167 people shuffling around looking for handouts. 965 01:07:46,792 --> 01:07:49,125 [Courtney] Sitting Bull didn't understand 966 01:07:49,292 --> 01:07:52,250 the wealth that the Americans had, 967 01:07:52,417 --> 01:07:56,708 that there would be homeless people begging for food. 968 01:07:56,875 --> 01:08:00,125 And he had compassion not only for his -- his own people, 969 01:08:00,333 --> 01:08:02,667 but compassion for people in general, 970 01:08:02,875 --> 01:08:05,333 that he gave his money away. 971 01:08:05,542 --> 01:08:08,333 He gave it to these people that are begging for food. 972 01:08:09,542 --> 01:08:11,333 [Jeffery] Because of the things that he's seen, 973 01:08:11,500 --> 01:08:13,250 Sitting Bull has become more and more entrenched 974 01:08:13,417 --> 01:08:15,417 in the belief that the Lakota need to live 975 01:08:15,542 --> 01:08:18,583 by their traditional values in order to survive successfully 976 01:08:18,708 --> 01:08:20,500 on the reservation. 977 01:08:20,625 --> 01:08:23,458 [narrator] As he ends his tour with Buffalo Bill, 978 01:08:23,625 --> 01:08:26,083 Sitting Bull is more determined than ever 979 01:08:26,208 --> 01:08:29,625 to ensure Lakota culture survives. 980 01:08:44,125 --> 01:08:46,708 [narrator] In January of 1887, 981 01:08:46,875 --> 01:08:49,750 Sitting Bull is 56 years old. 982 01:08:50,875 --> 01:08:54,375 He's now lived at Standing Rock for nearly four years. 983 01:08:56,542 --> 01:08:59,250 [Jeffery] Agent McLaughlin's hope 984 01:08:59,417 --> 01:09:01,417 that Sitting Bull's travels east 985 01:09:01,542 --> 01:09:04,708 would actually soften him for the United States 986 01:09:04,917 --> 01:09:06,792 does not come to fruition. 987 01:09:10,542 --> 01:09:12,458 [narrator] Sitting Bull is more determined than ever 988 01:09:12,667 --> 01:09:16,792 to preserve traditional Lakota values on the reservation. 989 01:09:18,208 --> 01:09:20,042 But developments back east 990 01:09:20,208 --> 01:09:23,167 are about to change the landscape once more. 991 01:09:23,875 --> 01:09:26,750 [hammers clanging] 992 01:09:26,875 --> 01:09:29,375 By 1887, 993 01:09:29,542 --> 01:09:32,083 the American Industrial Revolution is in full swing. 994 01:09:32,292 --> 01:09:36,417 Fueled by the nation's oil and steel industries, 995 01:09:37,542 --> 01:09:39,333 the surge in manufacturing 996 01:09:39,458 --> 01:09:41,667 attracts a wave of new immigrants, 997 01:09:41,875 --> 01:09:45,125 creating an even greater hunger for land 998 01:09:45,292 --> 01:09:47,167 in the American West. 999 01:09:54,708 --> 01:09:58,375 But with over 100 million acres allotted to reservations, 1000 01:09:58,542 --> 01:10:01,833 the US government looks for a way to open up that land 1001 01:10:01,958 --> 01:10:03,708 to American settlement. 1002 01:10:05,750 --> 01:10:08,667 In February of 1887, 1003 01:10:08,792 --> 01:10:13,292 President Grover Cleveland signs the Dawes Act into law. 1004 01:10:13,792 --> 01:10:17,125 Proposed as a way to further assimilate tribal people 1005 01:10:17,292 --> 01:10:19,000 to American ways, 1006 01:10:19,208 --> 01:10:21,375 the law offers them US citizenship 1007 01:10:21,542 --> 01:10:24,375 and an opportunity to personally own 1008 01:10:24,500 --> 01:10:27,625 their own private plot of land within the reservation. 1009 01:10:29,542 --> 01:10:32,042 [Clay] The Dawes Act said that Native Americans 1010 01:10:32,208 --> 01:10:35,083 would be encouraged heavily to choose plots 1011 01:10:35,208 --> 01:10:37,917 for individual family ownership, 1012 01:10:38,042 --> 01:10:40,000 and that whatever lands then were left over, 1013 01:10:40,125 --> 01:10:41,750 that land would be declared surplus 1014 01:10:41,875 --> 01:10:44,167 and would be available to white homesteaders, 1015 01:10:44,375 --> 01:10:46,875 and that was going to break up the reservation. 1016 01:10:48,083 --> 01:10:51,917 [Douglas] All the Dawes Act was, in the end, was a land grab. 1017 01:10:52,042 --> 01:10:54,583 It was how do you take land that was legally owned 1018 01:10:54,708 --> 01:10:57,333 by Native Americans and give it to white settlers? 1019 01:10:57,542 --> 01:11:00,333 It's another disingenuous act 1020 01:11:00,500 --> 01:11:03,375 by the US government towards Native American people. 1021 01:11:05,500 --> 01:11:07,625 [narrator] On the Great Sioux Reservation, 1022 01:11:07,792 --> 01:11:11,500 the Lakota alone lose 9 million acres of land, 1023 01:11:11,667 --> 01:11:15,167 nearly two-thirds of their allotted territory. 1024 01:11:15,333 --> 01:11:18,667 In total, tribes across the west 1025 01:11:18,875 --> 01:11:21,167 will lose more than 90 million acres 1026 01:11:21,375 --> 01:11:23,958 as a result of the Dawes Act. 1027 01:11:32,292 --> 01:11:34,125 By 1890, 1028 01:11:34,250 --> 01:11:36,625 tribal people across the West 1029 01:11:36,792 --> 01:11:39,667 are desperate for any sign of hope. 1030 01:11:44,458 --> 01:11:47,125 In the midst of this despair, 1031 01:11:47,292 --> 01:11:49,958 a new movement starts, 1032 01:11:50,667 --> 01:11:53,375 based around a spiritual ceremony 1033 01:11:53,542 --> 01:11:55,708 called the Ghost Dance. 1034 01:11:57,708 --> 01:11:59,375 [Shane] The Ghost dance was actually envisioned 1035 01:11:59,542 --> 01:12:02,083 by a Paiute medicine man named Wovoka. 1036 01:12:02,250 --> 01:12:05,958 Wovoka believed if people participated in this dance 1037 01:12:06,083 --> 01:12:08,667 that the bison would come back 1038 01:12:08,833 --> 01:12:10,833 and the white people would all disappear from the land, 1039 01:12:11,042 --> 01:12:13,833 and that the Native people could return to their old ways again. 1040 01:12:15,708 --> 01:12:19,042 It offered a new sense of hope and aspiration 1041 01:12:19,250 --> 01:12:20,917 for Indigenous communities, 1042 01:12:21,083 --> 01:12:23,500 that they would succeed 1043 01:12:23,708 --> 01:12:26,333 and that they would outlast 1044 01:12:26,542 --> 01:12:29,625 these really devastating acts of colonization, 1045 01:12:29,792 --> 01:12:33,000 and violence, warfare, starvation. 1046 01:12:34,375 --> 01:12:36,417 [narrator] As the Ghost Dance movement spreads 1047 01:12:36,583 --> 01:12:38,875 through reservations across the country, 1048 01:12:39,542 --> 01:12:42,875 American officials see a looming threat. 1049 01:12:44,375 --> 01:12:47,333 The Ghost Dance is most troubling 1050 01:12:47,500 --> 01:12:50,500 to Americans living near a reservation. 1051 01:12:50,708 --> 01:12:54,333 Their fear is always that there's going to be an outbreak. 1052 01:12:54,500 --> 01:12:56,333 The Native Americans will rise up 1053 01:12:56,542 --> 01:12:58,125 and come out and kill them all. 1054 01:12:58,333 --> 01:13:00,667 And for many American citizens, 1055 01:13:00,750 --> 01:13:04,375 this fear is going to be visceral and real. 1056 01:13:06,375 --> 01:13:08,833 [narrator] Newspapers everywhere run stories 1057 01:13:09,042 --> 01:13:12,667 calling the Ghost Dance a reign of terror. 1058 01:13:12,875 --> 01:13:15,375 [Paul] The white people went berserk. 1059 01:13:15,542 --> 01:13:18,833 This seemed completely insidious. 1060 01:13:19,042 --> 01:13:23,792 This was the forecast of another Indian rebellion. 1061 01:13:35,875 --> 01:13:38,000 [narrator] Soon the Ghost Dance movement 1062 01:13:38,125 --> 01:13:41,417 makes its way to the Lakota at Standing Rock. 1063 01:13:43,708 --> 01:13:46,917 [Paul] At first, Sitting Bull didn't care for it. 1064 01:13:47,750 --> 01:13:49,667 And in fact, he didn't like it at all 1065 01:13:49,875 --> 01:13:52,417 because it was not Lakota spiritualism. 1066 01:13:54,042 --> 01:13:56,083 [Lakota singing] 1067 01:14:00,083 --> 01:14:03,583 But he saw the power it was having over the people, 1068 01:14:03,792 --> 01:14:06,292 and being a smart politician, and that's what he was, 1069 01:14:06,458 --> 01:14:08,083 he began to slowly embrace it. 1070 01:14:11,875 --> 01:14:15,000 He started to give more and more support to the Ghost Dance, 1071 01:14:15,208 --> 01:14:18,583 and this infuriated and worried McLaughlin. 1072 01:14:20,875 --> 01:14:23,458 [Edward] So, as the Ghost Dance movement is gaining momentum, 1073 01:14:23,625 --> 01:14:25,667 James McLaughlin is convinced 1074 01:14:25,750 --> 01:14:28,000 that this is a seditious, rebellious movement 1075 01:14:28,208 --> 01:14:29,833 that is very dangerous, 1076 01:14:30,042 --> 01:14:31,875 and he's also convinced Sitting Bull is going to 1077 01:14:32,083 --> 01:14:34,958 support the Ghost Dance movement on his reservation, 1078 01:14:35,125 --> 01:14:38,333 and it's going to be a prelude to a great big uprising. 1079 01:14:39,333 --> 01:14:41,500 [narrator] Determined to stop any potential rebellion 1080 01:14:41,708 --> 01:14:43,625 dead in its tracks, 1081 01:14:43,833 --> 01:14:46,458 McLaughlin calls in the reservation police, 1082 01:14:47,708 --> 01:14:50,000 made up of Lakota, 1083 01:14:50,208 --> 01:14:54,000 and issues an order to arrest Sitting Bull. 1084 01:15:18,042 --> 01:15:20,000 [Guy] The relationship between Gall and Sitting Bull 1085 01:15:20,167 --> 01:15:21,667 was very strained. 1086 01:15:21,875 --> 01:15:24,875 For a long time, they did not talk to each other, 1087 01:15:25,042 --> 01:15:27,500 but once Gall heard of the intent, 1088 01:15:27,625 --> 01:15:31,667 Gall knew they weren't going there just to arrest him, 1089 01:15:31,875 --> 01:15:34,667 they were going there to shut him up. 1090 01:15:41,792 --> 01:15:43,917 [McLaughlin] That'll be all, gentlemen. 1091 01:15:55,000 --> 01:15:56,667 Have a seat. 1092 01:16:01,667 --> 01:16:03,792 Let me speak to Sitting Bull. 1093 01:16:03,958 --> 01:16:07,083 No need. It's being handled. 1094 01:16:09,042 --> 01:16:11,542 [Gall] I think I should talk to Sitting Bull. 1095 01:16:11,708 --> 01:16:13,375 I'm the only one he trusts. 1096 01:16:13,542 --> 01:16:15,583 I said it's being taken care of. 1097 01:16:19,417 --> 01:16:21,708 You're dismissed. 1098 01:16:26,750 --> 01:16:28,917 Gall understood this perfectly. 1099 01:16:29,083 --> 01:16:31,417 He knew that McLaughlin was setting up 1100 01:16:31,583 --> 01:16:33,667 a very volatile situation. 1101 01:16:33,833 --> 01:16:36,833 He warned against it. McLaughlin dismissed it. 1102 01:16:40,708 --> 01:16:42,875 [horse whinnies] 1103 01:16:46,583 --> 01:16:48,750 [narrator] On December 15th, 1890, 1104 01:16:48,917 --> 01:16:52,083 McLaughlin mobilizes his men 1105 01:16:54,708 --> 01:16:57,958 to bring Sitting Bull in by force. 1106 01:17:08,958 --> 01:17:12,583 [narrator] On the morning of December 15th, 1890, 1107 01:17:12,708 --> 01:17:14,458 at Standing Rock, 1108 01:17:14,583 --> 01:17:17,833 Indian agent James McLaughlin 1109 01:17:18,042 --> 01:17:20,125 mobilizes the reservation police. 1110 01:17:22,000 --> 01:17:24,708 Their orders, arrest Sitting Bull 1111 01:17:24,917 --> 01:17:28,000 for supporting the Ghost Dance movement. 1112 01:17:29,208 --> 01:17:32,125 The Indian police force is made up of Native Americans 1113 01:17:32,208 --> 01:17:35,583 who are set out to enforce assimilationist policies. 1114 01:17:35,792 --> 01:17:39,167 And there's absolutely no proof that the Ghost Dance 1115 01:17:39,333 --> 01:17:41,375 was any kind of a threat to Americans, 1116 01:17:41,542 --> 01:17:44,583 and Sitting Bull really has no active role in it. 1117 01:17:44,750 --> 01:17:47,917 Yet McLaughlin wants him arrested. 1118 01:17:48,042 --> 01:17:50,750 So, you can see how difficult this is. 1119 01:17:53,417 --> 01:17:56,167 [tense music plays] 1120 01:17:58,167 --> 01:18:00,208 [narrator] As the tribal police close in, 1121 01:18:00,375 --> 01:18:03,958 word spreads among Sitting Bull's supporters. 1122 01:18:08,917 --> 01:18:12,333 [Lakota shouting] 1123 01:18:16,500 --> 01:18:18,208 A crowd had assembled 1124 01:18:18,375 --> 01:18:20,833 and there was a lot of tension at that moment, 1125 01:18:20,958 --> 01:18:23,208 and the anxiety was high. 1126 01:18:28,208 --> 01:18:30,083 [door crashes open] 1127 01:18:32,542 --> 01:18:35,250 [police and Sitting Bull speaking Lakota] 1128 01:18:51,875 --> 01:18:54,375 [gunshot cracks] 1129 01:19:13,708 --> 01:19:15,875 [whoops] 1130 01:19:16,583 --> 01:19:19,000 [whoops] 1131 01:19:19,208 --> 01:19:21,000 [gunshot cracks] 1132 01:19:27,333 --> 01:19:29,750 [narrator] In one horrifying instant, 1133 01:19:29,958 --> 01:19:33,167 Sitting Bull is dead. 1134 01:19:35,042 --> 01:19:36,750 [William] There's a tense confrontation 1135 01:19:36,875 --> 01:19:38,500 between members of the Indian Police 1136 01:19:38,667 --> 01:19:40,292 and Sitting Bull's followers. 1137 01:19:40,417 --> 01:19:42,042 A gunfight ensues 1138 01:19:42,208 --> 01:19:45,458 and Sitting Bull dies in this skirmish. 1139 01:19:45,583 --> 01:19:49,333 [Mark Lee] Sitting Bull is murdered in front of his people. 1140 01:19:49,542 --> 01:19:51,000 It's a despicable killing. 1141 01:19:51,167 --> 01:19:53,500 It didn't have to happen, and it had its roots 1142 01:19:53,667 --> 01:19:56,292 in hatred for tradition and in hatred for Sitting Bull. 1143 01:19:58,000 --> 01:20:00,500 [Courtney] That was a resistance period, 1144 01:20:00,667 --> 01:20:02,625 the time of Sitting Bull. 1145 01:20:02,750 --> 01:20:05,500 So, when Sitting Bull was murdered, 1146 01:20:05,708 --> 01:20:09,000 what once was a great fire 1147 01:20:09,167 --> 01:20:13,208 of our people was now reduced to embers. 1148 01:20:15,042 --> 01:20:17,458 [narrator] But the violence isn't over. 1149 01:20:20,625 --> 01:20:22,458 A gunfight ensues. 1150 01:20:22,667 --> 01:20:24,792 Several members of the Indian police are killed. 1151 01:20:24,875 --> 01:20:26,708 Several members 1152 01:20:26,875 --> 01:20:28,375 of Sitting Bull's followers are killed. 1153 01:20:28,583 --> 01:20:30,208 It causes chaos and panic. 1154 01:20:39,333 --> 01:20:41,000 [narrator] Fearing they would be killed 1155 01:20:41,125 --> 01:20:42,875 if they remained at Standing Rock, 1156 01:20:43,042 --> 01:20:45,667 close to 400 Ghost Dance supporters flee 1157 01:20:45,833 --> 01:20:49,458 to seek refuge nearly 200 miles to the south, 1158 01:20:51,083 --> 01:20:53,375 on the Pine Ridge Reservation. 1159 01:20:56,250 --> 01:20:59,625 As they set out on their journey, 1160 01:20:59,833 --> 01:21:02,375 US troops flood into the area. 1161 01:21:05,750 --> 01:21:08,792 On their trip south, they were intercepted 1162 01:21:08,958 --> 01:21:10,750 by the 7th Cavalry 1163 01:21:10,917 --> 01:21:12,333 as kind of historical irony has it, right, 1164 01:21:12,542 --> 01:21:15,125 Custer's old regiment. 1165 01:21:15,333 --> 01:21:17,833 [narrator] The army orders the Lakota 1166 01:21:18,000 --> 01:21:20,250 to halt their march to Pine Ridge 1167 01:21:20,417 --> 01:21:23,250 and to camp along a nearby creek called Wounded Knee. 1168 01:21:30,333 --> 01:21:32,250 [Edward] The 7th Cavalry announced 1169 01:21:32,417 --> 01:21:33,958 that they're going to disarm the Native Americans 1170 01:21:34,125 --> 01:21:35,583 gathered there, and in the process, 1171 01:21:35,750 --> 01:21:37,250 a gun goes off. 1172 01:21:37,375 --> 01:21:39,125 It's still disputed whose gun went off, 1173 01:21:39,208 --> 01:21:40,917 but what we do know for certain 1174 01:21:41,083 --> 01:21:42,583 is that from that moment forward, 1175 01:21:42,792 --> 01:21:44,292 the 7th Cavalry goes berserk. 1176 01:21:49,958 --> 01:21:53,000 [narrator] On December 29th, 1890, 1177 01:21:53,167 --> 01:21:55,917 one of American history's most tragic events, 1178 01:21:56,083 --> 01:21:59,042 unfolds at Wounded Knee Creek. 1179 01:21:59,875 --> 01:22:03,500 290 Lakota men, women, and children 1180 01:22:03,708 --> 01:22:07,042 are massacred by the US Army. 1181 01:22:08,833 --> 01:22:13,000 To kill women, children, to kill them, 1182 01:22:13,167 --> 01:22:15,333 just to gun them down. 1183 01:22:17,875 --> 01:22:21,250 Wounded Knee was the ultimate evil. 1184 01:22:21,417 --> 01:22:23,833 They're left out in the cold for several days, 1185 01:22:24,000 --> 01:22:25,625 just out in the open, 1186 01:22:25,792 --> 01:22:28,292 exhibiting the kind of disregard for their humanity. 1187 01:22:28,458 --> 01:22:31,625 And then eventually buried in mass graves. 1188 01:22:35,250 --> 01:22:39,333 [Frank] To massacre hundreds of Lakota in cold blood, 1189 01:22:39,542 --> 01:22:43,250 still, to this day, makes me emotional thinking about it, 1190 01:22:43,417 --> 01:22:45,375 that such a thing could be done to people 1191 01:22:45,542 --> 01:22:48,500 who were in such a state of survival. 1192 01:22:50,250 --> 01:22:52,250 [Jeffrey] The Wounded Knee massacre is what many consider 1193 01:22:52,417 --> 01:22:54,333 the end of Native American history. 1194 01:22:54,458 --> 01:22:57,375 It's a tragedy that's just so unfortunate, 1195 01:22:57,542 --> 01:22:59,333 so unnecessary. 1196 01:22:59,500 --> 01:23:03,083 But it's not the end of Native culture. 1197 01:23:06,125 --> 01:23:07,875 [narrator] Today, 1198 01:23:08,042 --> 01:23:10,542 over a century after the events at Wounded Knee, 1199 01:23:10,708 --> 01:23:14,958 the Lakota people and their culture live on 1200 01:23:15,042 --> 01:23:18,000 thanks to the legacy of Sitting Bull. 1201 01:23:20,542 --> 01:23:23,375 [Elizabeth] Sitting Bull really exists 1202 01:23:23,542 --> 01:23:28,250 as a symbol of Indigenous strength, hope, and inspiration. 1203 01:23:28,375 --> 01:23:31,958 This is not some distant historic figure. 1204 01:23:32,167 --> 01:23:35,875 This is a real person who had a transformative effect, 1205 01:23:36,083 --> 01:23:38,875 not only in Native American history, 1206 01:23:39,042 --> 01:23:41,292 but in American history as a whole. 1207 01:23:42,375 --> 01:23:45,417 -The thread that I see in Sitting Bull's life is that 1208 01:23:45,583 --> 01:23:47,458 he was consistently and adamantly 1209 01:23:47,625 --> 01:23:50,000 always in support of protecting Lakota land 1210 01:23:50,125 --> 01:23:53,750 from the intrusion of the United States. 1211 01:23:54,708 --> 01:23:57,042 [Paul] He's seen as a heroic freedom fighter. 1212 01:23:57,208 --> 01:23:59,958 Someone who stood against the American onslaught 1213 01:24:00,125 --> 01:24:02,375 and who defended the rights of his people. 1214 01:24:03,417 --> 01:24:05,292 [Frank] For me, as a young Lakota person, 1215 01:24:05,417 --> 01:24:08,333 Sitting Bull represents resistance. 1216 01:24:08,500 --> 01:24:11,583 He never stopped being Lakota. 1217 01:24:13,542 --> 01:24:15,917 He said, I just wanted to be known in history. 1218 01:24:16,125 --> 01:24:18,958 I was the last warrior to give up his gun. 1219 01:24:19,125 --> 01:24:22,333 [whoops] 1220 01:24:22,458 --> 01:24:26,917 Sitting Bull is an inspiration to keep fighting 1221 01:24:27,083 --> 01:24:29,833 for what you believe in. 1222 01:24:32,833 --> 01:24:35,250 And I think all Native people try to emulate him 1223 01:24:35,375 --> 01:24:37,792 in some way, shape, or form. 1224 01:24:37,875 --> 01:24:42,167 To live a life without fear, to inspire others. 1225 01:24:43,042 --> 01:24:46,833 [Courtney] He showed all these virtues that made a warrior, 1226 01:24:47,000 --> 01:24:49,083 but also a leader. 1227 01:24:49,208 --> 01:24:53,208 He was a man, definitely that stood above the rest.