Takoda

Takoda was an American who wounded 12 policeman, six of them seriously, when trying to escape a prison in Great Falls, Montana, United States, on April 9th, 1882. The 22 year old was afterwards wounded and taken back into custody when trying to escape across the border to Canada.

Background
Takoda was born on the Upper Sioux Indian Reservation in Granite Falls, Montana in late 1859. Takoda apparently married a woman named Ptaysanwee, and had 2 twins with her. On August 23, 1879 At the age of 19, due to anger over the treatment of American indians in the United States, Takoda joined two other indians and wounded two American soldiers. For this act Takoda earned himself a war bonnet. The following day, Takoda joined 31 other indians with the plan of ambushing a group of soldiers. However, they were spotted early and all 32 ended up being captured. Takoda himself was seriously wounded by shots to the chest and side, and tried to escape by swimming down a river, abandoning his horse in the process. Takoda eventually passed out due to his injuries on the shore, and was discovered and taken prisoner by soldiers who followed the blood in the water. One of the soldiers who found him gave this description.

"We found another savage laying sprawled on the shore of the lake. He was covered head to toe in blue war paint, and his own blood. He wore no clothing except for his headdress."

Shooting
After his capture, Takoda took weeks to recover from his injuries, and was considered the most troublesome of the native inmates. He reportedly refused to wear western clothing, and was constantly brooding. On April 9, 1882. Takoda was taken into the courtyard to break rocks as punishment for misbehaving. While doing so, Takoda suddenly hit his supervisor, William Henderson, by bashing him in the face with one of the rocks. He afterwards took Henderson's Winchester rifle, and seriously wounded him with a shot to the shoulder. Takoda next began firing shots at other guards, wounding eight of them, three seriously. According to witness reports by one of the guards, Takoda was very skillful with the rifle, firing and taking cover like a trained soldier would. Eventually Takoda was shot and wounded in the arm, and fled to the armory. In the armory, he seriously wounded George Ericson and Matthew Higgins, and stole a shotgun and another rifle. He afterwards fled the complex, shooting and wounding a guard and stealing his horse. He afterwards rode back towards the reservation, with the intent of arming the indians there for a revolt, but changed his mind after being spotted by soldiers. On the morning of April 10th, Takoda was seen riding towards Canada, and was wounded by a shot to the back 30 meters from the border. He was afterwards taken back into custody.

Aftermath
Takoda was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was released from prison in 1914, after it was decided that Takoda, who had now changed his name to James Henry Harrison, should have been considered a prisoner of war, rather than a simple criminal. He was also deemed to no longer be a threat. After his release, he moved to Billings, Montana, along with his wife and two children. after his release, James had six more children. His wife died in 1959, and James himself died of heart failure on November 8th, 1964. Of his eight children, the first two died in 1972, and the later five died in 1982, 1993, 1994, 2003, and 2010. The eighth child is still alive.