A small detachment of soldiers entered a large Sioux encampment to arrest a man accused of taking a migrant's cow, although such matters by treaty were to be handled by the US Indian Agent. After one of the soldiers fatally shot Chief "Matȟó Wayúhi" (Conquering Bear), the Brulé Lakotas returned fire and killed a total of 29 soldiers, Lieutenant John Grattan, and a civilian interpreter. The massacre, as it was called by the American press, is considered an early and significant event in the Plains Indian Wars.