Soldiers of the Plains
Law and crime biography, Biography, United States history, Indigenous peoples
Synthetic audio, Automated braille
Summary
The Indian was the great soldier of the plains and, in many respects, the greatest fighter the world has ever known. But, unlike the white man, the Indian had no press agency through which to broadcast his story to the… world.And so it comes about that for the most part such knowledge as we have respecting Indian war ventures, for example, comes not from the Indian but from sources having no interest in presenting the Indian point of view—from official government reports and from stories of men actively engaged with those opposed to the red man. The result: almost all reports of Indian warfare were unfavorable to the Indian,—his reasons for war misrepresented; his victories discounted; his acts of heroism, if mentioned at all, carefully flattened out to the level of the commonplace.In this account an attempt is made to say a word for the red man; to present his side fairly and with sympathetic understanding; to discuss frankly his experience in treaty negotiation; to draw attention to some of his remarkable military exploits; and to touch upon his high qualities as a factor in civilized life. To that extent it supplies a much needed contribution to the frontier history of our time, for we owe to the Indian a fair statement of his case and a just estimate of his qualities as a warrior and a man.The scope of the discussion is limited. It is concerned mainly with events leading up to and including the battle of the Little Big Horn, March 25-26, 1876. Incidentally something is contributed to a clearer understanding of General Custer’s part in that campaign.