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On This Day: In 1879 Chief Big Snake of the Ponca was shot and killed. Earlier in the year, the courts ruled that the U.S. government could not force an Indian to stay on any one reservation as part of the Standing Bear trial. Big Snake att...empted to test this ruling, and tried to visit his brother and fellow Ponca Standing Bear. General Sherman decided that the ruling only applied to Standing Bear, and Ponca agent William Whiteman attempted to arrest Big Snake. During the attempted arrest, Big Snake was shot by U.S. agents. During the investigative hearing held by the Senate into the killing of Big Snake, the following was recorded: “Big Snake said he had done nothing wrong; that he carried no knife; and threw off his blanket and turned around to show he had no weapon. The officer again told him to come along. … The officer went for the handcuffs, which a soldier had, and brought them in. The officer and a soldier then tried to put them on him, but Big Snake pushed them both away. Then the officer spoke to the soldiers, and four of them tried to put them on, but Big Snake pushed them all off. One soldier, who had stripes on his arms, also tried to put them on, but Big Snake pushed them off. They tried several times, all of them, to get hold of Big Snake and hold him. But Big Snake was sitting down, when six soldiers got hold of him. He raised up and threw them off. Just then one of the soldiers, who was in in front of him, struck Big Snake in the face with his gun, another soldier struck him along side the head with the barrel of his gun. It knocked him back to the wall. He straightened up again. The blood was running down his face. So, I turned away. Then the gun was fired and Big Snake fell down dead on the floor.”

 

— with Bruce Winfield.

 

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