Sitting Bull Wins His First Battle Honors, 1845
Sitting Bull wins his first battle honors at the age of 14 by riding down a Crow warrior. Copy of Sitting Bull's sketch, made later by his uncle, also contains Sitting Bull's signature, a seated buffalo at top right. Sitting Bull (1831-1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies. Sitting Bull was born in a teepee in the Dakota Territory and raised to be a warrior. He had a premonition of defeating the cavalry, which motivated his Native American people to a major victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Sitting Bull and his group left the United States to Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan, where he remained until 1881, at which time he surrendered to U.S. forces. He briefly toured as a performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation during an attempt to arrest him and prevent him from supporting the Ghost Dance movement
