The narrative focuses on Colonel Nelson A. Miles and his Fifth Infantry's aggressive campaigns against the Lakota-Northern Cheyenne coalition following Custer's defeat. It highlights the relentless military efforts during the harsh winter, leading to the climactic Lame Deer Fight in May 1877, marking the final major confrontation of the Great Sioux War. The book delves into the strategies, challenges, and historical significance of these military actions in the context of American expansion and Native American resistance.
On November 27, 1868, the U.S. Seventh Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer attacked a Southern Cheyenne village along the Washita River in present-day western Oklahoma. The subsequent U.S. victory signaled the end of the Cheyennes' traditional way of life and resulted in the death of Black Kettle, their most prominent peace chief. In this remarkably balanced history, Jerome A. Greene describes the causes, conduct, and consequences of the event even as he addresses the multiple controversies surrounding the conflict. As Greene explains, the engagement brought both praise and condemnation for Custer and carried long-range implications for his stunning defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn eight years later.
The narrative delves into the harrowing experiences of survivors and the establishment of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, highlighting the lasting impact of historical injustices. It also connects past events to contemporary Cheyenne tribal commemorations, emphasizing the importance of remembrance and the ongoing struggle against the injustices faced due to 19th-century U.S. government policies.
In writings about the Great Sioux War, the perspectives of its Native American participants often are ignored and forgotten. Jerome A. Greene corrects that oversight by presenting a comprehensive overview of America's largest Indian war from the point of view of the Lakotas and Northern Cheyennes.
Eyewitness accounts from the Arikara scouts who accompanied Custer provide a unique perspective on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, revealing insights often overlooked in traditional narratives. Collected through interviews by Orin G. Libby in 1912, these testimonies highlight the scouts' critical role in Custer's campaigns from 1874 to 1876 and their pre-battle beliefs about the Sioux's formidable medicine. Their stories shed light on the factors contributing to Custer's defeat, emphasizing the complexity of this historical event.
In the fall of 1877, Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) Indians were desperately fleeing U.S. Army troops. The army caught up with them at the Bear's Paw Mountains in northern Montana, and following a devastating battle, Chief Joseph and most of his people surrendered. The wrenching tale of Chief Joseph and his followers is now legendary, but Bear's Paw is not the entire story. In fact, nearly three hundred Nez Perces escaped the U.S. Army and fled into Canada. Beyond Bear's Paw is the first book to explore the fate of these "nontreaty" Indians.
In this gripping tale, Jerome A. Greene--renowned specialist on the Indian wars--explores why the bloody engagement happened and demonstrates how it became a brutal massacre. Drawing on a wealth of sources, including previously unknown testimonies, Greene examines the events from both Native and non-Native perspectives, explaining the significance of treaties, white settlement, political disputes, and the Ghost Dance as influential factors in what eventually took place.
Nez Perce Summer, 1877 tells the story of a people’s epic struggle to survive spiritually, culturally, and physically in the face of unrelenting military force. Written by one of the foremost experts in frontier military history, Jerome A. Greene, and reviewed by members of the Nez Perce tribe, this definitive treatment of the Nez Perce War is the first to incorporate research from all known accounts of Nez Perce and U.S. military participants. Enhanced by sixteen detailed maps and forty-nine historic photographs, Greene’s gripping narrative takes readers on a three-and-one-half month 1,700-mile journey across the wilds of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana territories. All of the skirmishes and battles of the war receive detailed treatment, which benefits from Greene’s astute analysis of the strategies and decision making on both sides. Between 100 and 150 of the more than 800 Nez Perce men, women, and children who began the trek were killed during the war. Almost as many died in the months following the surrender, after they were exiled to malaria-ridden northeastern Oklahoma. Army deaths numbered 113. The casualties on both sides were an extraordinary price for a war that nobody wanted but whose history has since fascinated generations of Americans.
