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The Great Sioux War of 1876-77 is memorable to most Americans because of Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer's last stand at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. But to the Lakotas (Western Sioux) and Northern Cheyennes who won that battle but lost the war, the experience of those fifteen months was truly a'last stand'--A cultural catastrophe that led to the reservation experience they had fought so long and hard to avoid. In writings about the history and import of the Great Sioux War, the perspectives of its Native American participants often are ignored and forgotten. In this volume 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. A counterpoint to his earlier volume, which advances the military view of the skirmishes and battles - including the Little Big Horn - this book presents the Indians'report on the actions that ended their traditional way of life for all time. The accounts, by both men and women, afford fresh insights into the war. The Indian recollections provide personal, individualistic descriptions of significant events as the people struggled to protect their homelands, families, and tribal cultures. Most Sioux and Cheyenne accounts of the engagements remained within their own societies for many years. Those that were published during or soon after the war were colored by the defeat and often by mistranslation. This book presents a first-time compilation of the best of the Indians'recollections. The editor's introduction gives readers insight into the significance of Indian testimonial sources. Separate introductions place the Indians'accounts in the context of the war and enable readers to understand interrelationships among the events and thus gain a more complete appreciation of the war and its impact upon the Lakota and Cheyenne people.

Includes index.

War-Path and Bivouac is a detailed account fo the Dakota Indian wars of 1876 and the Nez Perce Indian wars of 1877.

First published in Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana, v. 2 (1896) under title: The journal of James H. Bradley; the Sioux Campaign of 1876 under the command of General John Gibbon, preceded by a brief biography of Lieutenant Bradley.

Written in 1890, War-Path and Bivouac is a narrative of stirring personal experiences in the Big Horn and Yellowstone Expeditions of 1876. Although the author, John Finerty was in the field as War Correspondent for the Chicago “Times”, during battle, on the march and in bivouac he was an active member of the 3rd Calvary. His purpose for writing these memoirs was to enlighten the reader as to the adventures, hardships, heroes, and horrors of our last great Indian wars, including the Custer Massacre, defeat of Crazy Horse and death of Sitting Bull.