THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602270477
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY BRINKLEY CRAFT GORANSON
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
A GOOD YEAR TO DIE
The Story of the Great Sioux War
CHARLES M. ROBINSON III
Random House. 412 pp. $27.50.
Charles M. Robinson III is a Texan who writes history about the Old West. His latest book, A Good Year to Die, documents the Great Sioux War of 1876 and relations between the U.S. government and the Teton Lakota Nation, also known as the Sioux Indians.
This is a well-researched account of both the tactics and strategies of the battles and the men who fought them, especially the leaders. Robinson liberally uses excerpts from letters and diaries, newspapers and War Department records, which reflect personal opinions and attitudes of the military officers and government officials involved. He also intersperses anecdotes that give insight into the moral character of the people.
The history of this conflict is confusing: Tribes were sometimes pitted against other tribes; some Indians were allied with the government; and any Native Americans who opposed federal pronouncements were considered hostile. Indeed, as Robinson writes, they had much to be hostile about. The country was still recovering from the Civil War, and Indian rights were not on the national political agenda.
A large part of the antagonism arose from differing philosophy about land ownership. Tribal lands were held in common because the Indians thought it absurd that anyone should claim ownership of the bounty of nature, but private possession of property is a basic tenet of American civilization. The land in question encompassed the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory and the rugged, mountainous area of northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana.
Robinson writes that neither side in the war was essentially good or essentially evil. Yet his sympathies are clearly with the Sioux warriors who fought valiantly to preserve their way of life and who most likely did not understand the implications of the documents to which they put their marks as signatures.
In addition to the lust for land occupied by the Sioux tribes, U.S. government officials aimed to impose standards of white society on them. Said President Ulysses S. Grant: ``My efforts in the future will be to bring the aborigines of the country under the benign influence of education and civilization. It is either this way or extermination.''
Traditional Old West history emphasizes the role of Col. George A. Custer and his unexpected defeat at the battle of Little Bighorn, in Montana, which came to be known as ``Custer's Last Stand.'' Robinson joins the critics in characterizing Custer as a man possessed of incredibly bad military judgment and great arrogance. In one telltale anecdote, Custer and his wife, Libbie, travel with his brothers, sister and nephew in a train car with amenities that included, for some unknown reason, accommodations for his pack of hounds.
After the shock of Custer's death and the loss of so many soldiers at Little Bighorn, Congress was willing to give the army whatever it wanted. As Robinson shows, the army exploited this attitude.
One might wish for more information about two colorful personalities who appear briefly in the book. One is Calamity Jane (a k a Martha Jane Cannary), who dressed as a man and was able to enlist in the army and serve a short stint before she was found out. The other is William F. Cody, popularly known as Buffalo Bill. He served as a government scout for a few months and left on his own accord when the weather cleared to take his ``Wild West Show'' on the road.
The book's title, A Good Year to Die, comes from the battle cry of the Lakota Nation, ``Hoka hey,'' which translates ``It is a good day to die.'' Robinson says that Indian losses from this war will never be accurately determined. In addition to those killed outright, many died of starvation or exposure after their villages were destroyed by the army. The even greater loss was their way of life.
For those without scholarly purpose, Robinson's minute details of battles and the men who fought them might be tedious. An avid interest in frontier history or U.S.-Native American relations seems necessary. Still, A Good Year to Die is a poignant historical record of fighting, oppression and the power of military force. MEMO: Brinkley Craft Goranson is a retired Lutheran pastor who lives in
Virginia Beach. by CNB