Porcupine Butte is a mountain summit located on the

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (), also called Pine Ridge Agency, is an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota, with a small portion extending into Nebraska. Originally included within the territory of the ...

Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota Oglala Lakota County (known as Shannon County until May 2015) is a county in southwestern South Dakota, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,672. Oglala Lakota County does not have a functioning county seat; Hot Springs ...

. Porcupine Butte is above sea level. The nearest municipality to Porcupine Butte is Wounded Knee, 2.3 miles away. KILI Radio, 90.1 FM maintains their broadcast facilities at Porcupine Butte, with the transmit tower located on the

butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

. There is also a fire watchtower located at the top of the butte. BIA Highway 27, also known as Big Foot Trail passes by the butte. Porcupine Butte was named on account of the prickly pine trees which grow upon the summit. It was near Porcupine Butte, on December 28, 1890, that Spotted Elks's band of

Miniconjou The Miniconjou (Lakota: Mnikowoju, Hokwoju – ‘Plants by the Water’) are a Native American people constituting a subdivision of the Lakota people The Lakota (; or ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people. ...

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

and members of the

Hunkpapa The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...

Lakota band who joined them on their way to join

Red Cloud Red Cloud (; – December 10, 1909) was a leader of the Oglala Lakota from 1865 to 1909. He was one of the most capable Native American opponents whom the United States Army faced in the western territories. He led the Lakota to victory over ...

at Pine Ridge, were intercepted by a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment. They were escorted 5 miles west where they made camp and were surrounded by the rest of the 7th. Cavalry. On the following day December, 29, the

Wounded Knee Massacre The Wounded Knee Massacre, also known as the Battle of Wounded Knee, involved nearly three hundred Lakota people killed by soldiers of the United States Army. More than 250 people of the Lakota were killed and 51 wounded (4 men and 47 women a ...

would take place resulting in numerous deaths including many women and children.Wounded Knee & the Ghost Dance Tragedy by Jack Utter p. 25 Publisher: National Woodlands Publishing Company; 1st edition (April 1991) Language: English

References

External links

* {{Coord, 43, 10, 48, N, 102, 19, 25, W, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-SD_source:GNIS Landforms of Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota Buttes of South Dakota