The Long War for the Northern Plains (Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars)

Rating:
Summary: AN INTERESTING SELECTION OF PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL
Review: I have all the volumes in this series but I imagine this is the one most students of the Indian Wars have been waiting for as it covers the Great Sioux War that includes, of course, the Little Big Horn battle. Since Amazon hasn't posted its Look Inside This Book feature for this, at least not as of this writing, I will try to summarize some of the contents. Prior to the 1876 campaign portion of the book, there are some very interesting first-hand accounts of Conner's Powder River campaign of 1865, events that receive scant attention in many books on the Indian Wars. The section on Red Cloud's War is next and is longer in content.

The Yellowstone Expedition includes accounts by Custer, Ellis, Braden and Barrows. The Braden account serves as a good example of the type material the reader finds here--I have read that before but only after getting a copy from the Military History Institute in Carlisle, PA.--in other words, much of what appears here is from things like the Cavalry Journal, Winners of the West, old newspapers, archival holdings, etc. until now, unavailable in book form. The Black Hills Expedition section follows with, again, accounts by Custer, Ludlow which are in print elsewhere but a short one from William Wood out of the North Dakota Archives, which isn't

Custer Battle includes Charles King from Harper's, Goldin from the Army Magazine, another one from Goldin but on Terry and Crook(no shortage of him in other sources), short account from Godfrey, Charles Eastman summarizing Indian accounts, Silverstein, Nugent. Other actions in this major war are also covered. In all, over 200 pages on the Great Sioux War. The book ends with sections on the death of Crazy Horse (Lt. Lemly's is the best account), the 1878-79 Northern Cheyenne Odyssey (traditionally known as the Cheyenne Outbreak). As one might expect, the relatively small 1887 Crow Indian Uprising receives no coverage but a very good section on Wounded Knee/Pine Ridge campaign (especially noteworthy is Godfrey's 1931 account from "Winners of the West") rounds out this book. Numerous illustrations from the likes of Remington, etc. are included. Buy it, you won't be disappointed.