RED CLOUD - Native American Warrior Gets a Bio

Though the authors say they were “primarily interested in telling a good yarn," there's a lot of research and scholarship in their study of neglected warrior Red Cloud, with really few embellishments or "interpretations" that may annoy a scholar looking to separate (to use Mort Sahl's famous catchphrase) what's "actual if not factual."

The fact is, while most everyone has heard of Geronimo, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, few have heard of Red Cloud. In fact, activist Leonard Peltier (a Lakota/Chippewa) didn't even list him among his Top 10 Greatest Native Americans...which included Chief Seattle, Chief Dull Knife, and Sequoyah. Red Cloud's main claim to fame is his victory over Captain William J. Fetterman and his men in 1866, following a series of raids against Fort Phil Kearny. Come to think of it, Fetterman is not well known either, even if he and his soldiers put up a better and more heroic fight than Custer did at the Little Big Horn.

Most any book on Native Americans is already loaded with a hundred years of resentment and misinformation on either side...with some bemoaning the white man's relentless expansion into another ethnic group's territory, and others resenting the guilt over how a giant expanse used for little more than tribal squabbles and buffalo hunting was transformed into a great industrial nation. Red Cloud's background, his fearsome reputation, and yes, some grim instances of savagery...are all covered here in depth, making this the definitive book on the subject. It also is the deepest account of the Fetterman debacle and also offers surprisingly vivid insight into the motley crew at Fort Phil Kearney. Custer, Sitting Bull and The Little Big Horn remain the most popular story regarding the Old West and Native Americans, but there's a movie waiting to be made on the world of Red Cloud...perhaps some Hollywood big shots are reading this book at this very moment.