In the early days of white settlement the Indians living round the Badlands and Pine Ridge put up fierce resistance to the takeover of their land, and there were frequent bloody encounters with United States troops. On December 29th 1890, 153 Indians were massacred by the United States Cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek - an inglorious operation that
broke the resistance of the Indians. The massacre of Wounded Knee, however, is still not forgotten: in 1973 members of the American Indian Movement occupied the area around Wounded Knee, and in 1993 there was a further protest there against the United States government's Indian policy. The site is marked by a memorial stone just off the SD 18.