My first contact with the story of Wowoka goes back to the days when I was a Wild West performer with Oklahoma Indians in the 1930s. I first heard of the "Ghost Dance" from my Indian friends and it has remained on the back burner of my mind. For more than 50 years I have made it a point to run down and research strange human beliefs. You, the reader, may never have heard of the "Ghost Dance" and this strange part of American history.

Wowoka, or Jack Wilson, was a Nevada Paiute who had been raised by a white family. For a first-hand account of this founder of the "Ghost Dance" I went to Yerington, Nevada, where a granite monument stands on the site of his wickiup. In December, 1887, Wowoka claimed to have been transported to heaven in a vision and was told by God that his people must dance for five nights to restore the Indian way of life. Wowoka gained stature as his "Ghost Dance" spread across the West. Later a Miniconjou Sioux (Lakota) named Kicking Bear visited Wowoka and learned of the "Ghost Dance." At first the new cult was pacific, encouraged by shamen (medicine men) of the plains tribes. The "Ghost Dance" rapidly spread through areas of the Sioux, Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians in the last stages of their resistance to white authority, and became hostile. They were told to wear special shirts on which were painted magical symbols, which they were told would make them impervious to the white men's bullets.

The Indian wars were coming to a close and most Indians were confined to reservations. But when Sitting Bull was killed in 1890, a frenzy of "Ghost Dance" activity erupted, causing much consternation among settlers and government officials. Some groups of Sioux (Lakota) fled the reservation in an attempt to continue resistance from the Black Hills. One such group, half frozen and starving, and consisting of two-thirds women and children, was camped on Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. There they were surrounded by the Seventh Cavalry. After most of the Indians had surrendered their guns, a shot was fired. No one knows who fired it, a defiant ghost dancer, a nervous soldier or an accident? Immediately the soldiers opened fire from all sides with carbines and automatic Hotchkiss guns, shredding the teepees, penetrating the sacred ghost shirts and tearing bodies to pieces. The result was a scene of devastation littered with dead bodies. Some women and children who tried to run were followed by the soldiers and killed.

Thus the Paiute prophet Wowoka was a major figure in the last stages of the downfall of the Indian nations. His "Ghost Dance" was a contributing factor to the Wounded Knee massacre and several other outbreaks, causing the deaths of many hundreds. His vision of the return of the buffalo and native life was an attractive but futile prophecy, which, as they usually do, came to nothing but dust. Perhaps it was not so much the superior force of arms that defeated the American Indians but their beliefs in useless superstitions.

Bolder Landry is an scholar, lecturer and author. He was a history teacher for many years and is a staunch Thomas Paine fan. He has written several books and currently resides in San Diego, California.