University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Great Plains Quarterly Studies, Center for

2009

Review of A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn-The Last Great Battle of the American West By James Donovan; The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History By Joseph M. Marshall; Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and By Michael A. Elliott

Robert W. Larson University of Northern Colorado

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Larson, Robert W., "Review of A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn-The Last Great Battle of the American West By James Donovan; The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History By Joseph M. Marshall; Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer By Michael A. Elliott" (2009). Great Plains Quarterly. 1200. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1200

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. REVIEW ESSAY

A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn-The Last Great Battle of the American West. By James Donovan. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. xiii + 528 pp. Photographs, maps, notes, bibliography, index. $26.99 cloth, $16.99 paper.

The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History. By Joseph M. Marshall III. New York: Viking, 2007. xxiv + 262 pp. Maps, bibliography, index. $24.95 cloth, $15.00 paper.

Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer. By Michael A. Elliott. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. 336 pp. Illustrations, notes, works cited, index. $25.00 cloth, $16.00 paper.

NEW VIEWS ON CUSTER AND THE INDIAN WARS

During the last few years a number of books Benteen, both of whom faced disappointment on the Indian wars fought in the upper Great and controversy during their declining years. Plains have been published. The three under Gracefully written, A Terrible Glory man­ review here are among the best. Donovan's A ages to immerse you in its pages and hold your Terrible Glory, the most ambitious, is a study of attention to the end. Donovan's inclusion of epic proportions involving the life of George items of human interest about the principal Armstrong Custer and his military career, figures in Custer's life, reminiscent of the late starting with his rather humble birth in Ohio Barbara W. Tuchman's practice in The Guns of and ending with his death at the Little Bighorn. August, proves more effective than the color­ Donovan does more than just focus on Custer ful adjectives historians sometimes employ to and his tumultuous years with the U.S. Army, enliven their studies. however. His first chapter, for instance, deals The book is well documented from a multi­ with the long and often bloody conflicts that tude of sources both old and new; its twenty­ initially pitted Native Americans against three-page bibliography includes material colonists from Europe and later against citizens from a number of relevant collections in from the new American republic. Moreover, libraries and archives throughout the country. the author does not end his narrative at the Donovan could have included more govern­ Little Bighorn, but continues it throughout the ment documents, such as the important rest of the Great War. He also chronicles correspondence involving President Grant's the events of the Ghost Dance movement secretaries of war and interior and the report of and the circumstances surrounding the tragic U.S. Indian Inspector Erwin C. Watkins, which events at Wounded Knee Creek in the winter led to the federal ultimatum demanding that of 1890. He concludes his study with a compel­ Lakota Sioux bands return to the Great Sioux ling follow-up on the lives of some of the more Reservation by January 31, 1876. Although prominent Seventh Cavalry officers and men summations of these documents can be found who survived the Little Bighorn, such as Major in many secondary sources, the ambiance of Marcus A. Reno and Captain Frederick W. this historic event can be better appreciated by

141 142 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2009 drawing from the documents themselves. The guage, is well equipped to present the accounts same is true of Standing Rock Indian agent of the battle given by those Lakota Sioux and James McLaughlin's controversial version of Northern who defeated Custer and 's arrest and death on December 15, his Seventh Cavalry along the Greasy Grass, as 1890, which the National Archives has labeled the Lakotas called the Little Bighorn in 1876. Special Case 188 in its documents relevant to Relying on oral tradition for his interpretations the Lakotas and their resistance during the late of the battle, he explains in his introduction nineteenth century. that oral tradition is the "lynchpin between As its subtitle suggests, the main focus of the past and the future" as far as his people are Donovan's study is the role of the U.S. mili­ concerned. With all the men under Custer's tary. Consequently, although the response to immediate command killed in the fighting the frontier army by the Lakotas and Northern on the east bank of the Greasy Grass, the Cheyennes is given its rightful place, it is not oral testimony of the Lakotas and Northern surprising that the Indian side in this great Cheyennes, as well as Custer's Crow and human drama is somewhat subordinate. True, scouts, does become vital. This is an the resistance exercised by major Indian leaders unavoidable fact whether testimony about the is chronicled, but, except for Sitting Bull and battle comes directly from Indian participants , the extent of their participation or from non-Indian historians who have access does not match that of Custer and the members to the written or published interviews of these of his Seventh Cavalry. participants. Red· Cloud's role as the chief Indian archi­ Given the multitude of interpretations of tect of the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie and his what happened at the Little Bighorn on that leadership in Red Cloud's War is mentioned, hot June day in 1876, Marshall's version does but not in any great detail. Indian leaders at the not seem that different from many of the Little Bighorn, like Gall, Crow King, and Two standard accounts. He claims that there were Moons, are recognized, but not with the kind a thousand lodges along the Greasy Grass pro­ of detailed biographical information reserved viding shelter for eight to ten thousand people for Custer and his men. Gall's role in the battle when Major Reno launched his surprise after­ is given some of its deserved emphasis, par­ noon attack on the Hunkpapa and Blackfoot ticularly the tragic loss of two of his wives and Lakota encampments on the southern end of three of his children, presumably at the hands the massive Indian village. Although this figure of Major Reno's Indian scouts. Although Gall's is high when compared with a number of other reputation as the bellwether for this Indian historical accounts, the size of this gathering of victory at the Little Bighorn has been disputed, Plains Indians was significantly large. Marshall Donovan does not deal with this controversy. also deals with the unsuccessful break toward Nevertheless, Gall is treated with an objectiv­ the river by twenty-eight troopers, including ity that marks most of Donovan's evaluations army scout Mitch Bouyer, which anthropolo­ throughout. Its emphasis on the military gist Richard A. Fox has characterized as the notwithstanding, Donovan's is one of the best last phase of the battle. According to the oral studies of Custer's military career this reviewer testimony of the Lakotas, this event occurred has read. about the same time as Custer's so-called Last For a better understanding of Native Ameri­ Stand on Battle Ridge, but Marshall's sources can perspectives on the Little Bighorn, Joseph are not as certain about the chronological M. Marshall's The Day the World Ended at Little order of these two events. Bighorn is an excellent choice. The author of Marshall gives much of the credit for the six previous books about his people, Marshall, decisive Indian victory at the Little Bighorn born on the Rosebud Reservation in South to Crazy Horse and Gall. "Crazy Horse's act Dakota and a speaker of Lakota as a first lan- of tremendous courage combined with Gall's REVIEW ESSAY 143 steady leadership contributed to the defeat of Like Donovan, Marshall also broadens his Custer and his entire command of 227 men" study to give it a meaningful historical back­ (74). Crazy Horse's crucial role at the Little ground. He believes that the centuries-old Bighorn has been largely accepted by histori­ conflict between Plains tribes and Europeans ans, but some, such as Gregory F. Michno, feel and Euro-Americans began in the 1720s, Gall's role has been exaggerated. In his Lakota when the French explorer, Pierre Gaultier de Noon: The Indian Narrative of Custer's Defeat Varennes, sieur de La Verendrye, placed a lead (1997), Michno believes that several Indian tablet on a hill overlooking the confluence of leaders, such as Crow King and a few other the Missouri and Bad rivers to mark a claim Lakota and war chiefs, played a for French traders from Quebec to the Great role just as important, if not more so, as Gall's. Plains of the north. In Marshall's opinion, this Although Michno does highlight Gall's strat­ gesture was one of the "first drops in the trickle egy of stampeding the Seventh Cavalry horses that led to a flood" (19). He also deals with the by killing the horse holders, whose numbers did aftermath of the Little Bighorn: life on a reser­ account for one of every four of Custer's embat­ vation; mandatory attendance of many Lakota tled troopers, Marshall claims much more for children at English-speaking schools; attempts Gall. He stresses Gall's deliberate focus on the to assimilate Lakotas as small farmers living in marksmanship and stealthful maneuvering of harmony with the dominant white culture; and his warriors as they pushed Custer's men up various federal laws-Marshall highlights the the slopes of Battle Ridge, where those who Dawes Severalty Act and the Wheeler-Howard survived would meet their end. Act-that affected Lakotas in profound ways. Marshall provides rich details regarding Poignantly chronicling Lakota life in the often the conditions of the huge and mobile Indian dreary years following their ultimate defeat village attacked on June 25. The inhabit­ despite the great victory in 1876, Marshall ants had been on the move for weeks before insists that the spirit of his people and the pride they reached the valley of the Little Bighorn, they take in their culture persist today. migrating frequently because of the grass con­ Michael A. Elliott takes a different tack in sumed by the twelve to fifteen thousand horses Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian needed to carry the hides and poles for their Wars and George Armstrong Custer. His study tipis and other necessary equipment. After focuses on the plethora of books, articles, films, Plains tribes such as the Lakotas had acquired and commemorative activities that continue to horses, they could haul poles that would spring from Custer's defeat along the Greasy make their tipis as high as thirty feet and as Grass. Participants in this Custer legacy­ wide as eight to ten feet across. Horses were professional historians, buffs, and casual read­ also needed to hunt wild game, mainly buf­ ers of history alike-call themselves falo, antelope, and deer, to feed the villagers. students of "Custeriana." This well-established Marshall estimates that the Indians from this term has been used to define their concentra­ village ate two thousand pounds of fresh meat tion on the "continuing production of knowl­ every day and drank four thousand gallons of edge" on Custer and the Indian wars in which water. One of their great military advantages he fought. "Custerology," to use Elliott's term was that most of their males had been trained for this enduring focus on Custer, not only as warriors from the time they were boys; they honors the memory of this colorful officer and also belonged to tight-knit and well-organized his Seventh Cavalry, but also celebrates the warrior societies when they reached man­ "indigenous resistance that defeated him" ... hood. Thus, unlike their adversaries, they did (2). With a greater emphasis by Custer enthu­ not have to call into action outside military siasts on the tribal factors that influenced the units like the Seventh Cavalry when they Indian wars, Elliott believes that most Indians became involved in warfare. who now participate in the commemoration of 144 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2009 the little Bighorn are more political in their June. The oldest, sponsored by the Hardin orientation than cultural; many of them not Chamber of Commerce, takes place four miles only continue to identify themselves as loyal west of Hardin on a level field with flat-topped American citizens but also as loyal members of bleachers built to hold three thousand specta­ their own tribe, which they hope to advance tors. The Hardin reenactment today is based politically as well as culturally. on a script written in 1964 by Crow historian Among the catalysts for Elliott's immer­ Joseph Medicine Crow, a descendant of White sion in Custerology are two active organiza­ Man Runs Him, one of Custer's Indian scouts. tions, the Custer Battlefield Historical and In 1992 a rival reenactment was staged by the Museum Association (CBHMA) and the Little Real Bird family, Crow Indians, on their prop­ Big Horn Associates (LBHA). The mem­ erty along the Little Bighorn at the Medicine bers of the Custer Battlefield Historical and Tail Ford, where Custer attempted to cross the Museum Association meet annually at Hardin, river and attack those Lakota and Cheyenne , near the Little Bighorn Battlefield encampments in the northern part of the vil­ Monument, on or about June 25. There they lage. Both reenactments are sweeping pageants engage in scholarly sessions and battlefield dramatizing the long conflict between the tours. The Little Big Horn Associates rotate U.S. military and the Lakotas and Northern their gatherings at different locations through­ Cheyennes, concluding with the defeat of out the country, but convene them during the Custer's Seventh Cavalry during that Last summer months. Stand of legend and history. Elliott devotes part of a chapter to the Little There are differences between the two reen­ Big Horn Associates, which was founded by actments as there are between the historical twelve charter members, including Robert J. interpretations of members from both organi­ Ege, an army veteran, and Lawrence A. Frost, zations at the heart of Custerology. The major a historian of Custer and the Indian wars from one is the Real Birds' portrayal of Custer's Monroe, Michigan, where Custer and his wife death near the site of Medicine Tail Ford rather Libbie once lived. The organization publishes a than on Battle Ridge, where the markers for monthly newsletter and a scholarly semiannual, Custer and his fallen comrades are located Research Review: The Journal of the Little Big (just across the road from the new monument Horn Associates. Elliott was introduced to the built to honor the battle's Indian participants). group when he attended one of its meetings in As an example of the dedication of both the Rapid City, , in the company of U.S. Army and Crow Indian reenacters, Steve Father Vincent Heier, a Catholic priest whose Alexander, who has played the part of Custer library houses more than three thousand books at both reenactments, lives in Custer's home in about Custer and the Indian wars. Elliott's Monroe, Michigan, with his wife Sandy, where inside view of the Little Big Horn Associates he takes particularly good care of this histori­ and their intense interest in the Indian wars cally significant property. is enlightening. He could have provided more Some historians may question the con­ information, however, about the role of the tinuing emphasis on those Indian battles and Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum skirmishes involving George Armstrong Custer Association in the promotion of Custerology, and the Lakota Sioux, climaxing in the Battle particularly through its publication of the of the Little Bighorn. But the Lakotas and their papers delivered at the organization's annual Northern Cheyenne allies undoubtedly pro­ symposiums, plus its annual scholarly journal vided the most formidable opposition to U.S. Greasy Grass, edited by Sandy Barnard. settlemenr and development of the Northern The enduring interest in the Battle of the Plains. Historian Robert M. Utley once charac­ Little Bighorn takes on dramatic form at the terized the federal government's policy toward two reenactments occurring annually in late the Plains tribes as essentially a Lakota Sioux REVIEW ESSAY 145 one during at least part of the late nineteenth ate command surviving, the last stages of the century. battle are still shrouded in controversy. Thus Indeed, the lure of the Little Bighorn, in Donovan, Marshall, Elliott, and other serious which one of America's most highly touted students of this banner event in western his­ heroes was brought down by Lakota and tory, rivaled only by the exceptional interest Cheyenne Indians during the nation's centen­ the siege of the Alamo provoked forty-one nial celebrations of 1876 has attracted a strong years earlier, continue to draw different inter­ interest on the part of both professional and pretations and conclusions regarding Custer amateur historians. Although some critics and the Little Bighorn. might call this preoccupation with the demise of Custer excessive, the fascination it has ROBERT W. LARSON attracted is understandable. With no soldiers Department of History, Emeritus from those companies under Custer's immedi- University of Northern Colorado