About the Book
The valuable interviews conducted by Nebraska judge Eli S. Ricker with Indian eyewitnesses to the Wounded Knee massacre, the Little Big Horn battle, the Grattan incident, and other events and personages of the Old West are finally made widely available in this long-awaited volume.
In the first decade of the twentieth century, as the Old West became increasingly distant and romanticized in popular consciousness, Eli S. Ricker (1843–1926) began interviewing those who had experienced it firsthand, hoping to write a multi-volume series about its last days. Among the many individuals he interviewed were American Indians, mostly Sioux, who spoke extensively about a range of subjects, some with the help of an interpreter. For years Ricker traveled across the northern Plains, determinedly gathering information on and off reservations, in winter and in summer. Judge Ricker never wrote his book, but his interviews are priceless sources of information about the Old West that offer more balanced perspectives on events than were accepted at the time.
Richard E. Jensen brings together all of Ricker's interviews with American Indians, annotating the conversations and offering an extensive introduction that sets forth important information about Ricker, his research, and the editorial methodology guiding the present volume.
Table of Contents:
List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionMap: The West of Eli S. RickerChapter One: The Garnett and Wells Interviews1. William Garnett. Biography, Treaties and Treaty Commissions, Killing of Frank Appleton, The Surround of Red Cloud and Red Leaf, Mackenzie-Dull Knife fight, Indian scouts, Crazy Horse, Sun Dances, Pine Ridge Reservation, Wounded Knee, Frank Grouard, Yellow Bear-John Richard Jr. episode, Flagpole at Red Cloud Agency2. Philip F. Wells. Biography, Sioux customs, language and religion, Little Bighorn, The Messiah/Ghost Dance, Wounded Knee, Drexel Mission fight, Agents and agency service, Sioux tribes and bands, Minnesota warChapter Two: The Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee1. Short Bull. The Messiah, Ghost Dance2. Joseph Horn Cloud. Wounded Knee, Wounded Knee casualties3. Dewey Beard. Wounded Knee4. Louis Mousseau. Wounded Knee, Pine Ridge Reservation5. William Palmer. Wounded Knee6. George Little Wound. Wounded Knee7. Ed Janis. Wounded Knee fatalities8. William Peano. Wounded Knee fatalities, Pine Ridge Reservation9. Paddy Starr. Wounded Knee and burials10. Frank Feather. Wounded Knee fatalities11. Man Above. Wounded Knee, Indian scouts12. Standing Soldier. Wounded Knee, Indian scouts, Crazy Horse13. Creighton Yankton. Wounded Knee hearsay14. William Denver McGaa. Pine Ridge Reservation, Wounded Knee, Indian scouts15. James Garvie. Poncas, Wounded Knee, Winnebagos, Santees16. John Shangrau. Reynolds's Powder River campaign, Wounded Knee, Cheyenne outbreak, Crazy HorseChapter Three: The Old West--Indians and Indian Fights1. Chipps. Crazy Horse2. American Horse. Grattan fight, Fetterman fight, Red Cloud, Biography, Crazy Horse3. Charles A. Eastman. S. D. Hinman, Crazy Horse4. Mrs. Richard Stirk. Biography, Crazy Horse, Saunders escape on Cache la Poudre5. Louie Bordeaux. James Bordeaux, Frank Grouard, Crazy Horse, Pine Ridge Reservation6. Respects Nothing. Little Bighorn7. Moses Flying Hawk. Little Bighorn, Sibley Scout8. Standing Bear. Little Bighorn9. Nick Ruleau. Little Bighorn, Fetterman fight10. Iron Hawk. Christian Indians, Little Bighorn11. Frank S. Shively. Crow Indian customs, Little Bighorn, Indians and priests, Chief Blackfoot, Indian scouts at Little Bighorn12. Two Moons. Battles at Tongue River, Rosebud, and Little Bighorn13. Henry Twist. Black Hills treaty14. Charles Turning Hawk. Black Hills treaty15. George Sword. Biography, Crazy Horse, Wagon Box fight16. Frank Salaway. Biography, Crazy Horse, Grattan fight, Ash Hollow fight, 1865 Horse Creek fight, Pine Ridge Reservation17. Red Cloud and Clarence Three Stars. Treaties, Black Hills, Grattan fight, Tribal government and policies, Lightning Creek incident, Allotments in severalty18. Alfred N. Coe. Dakota ministry, Two Sticks case19. Jacob White Eye. Haircuts at Pine Ridge20. Eagle Elk. Pine Ridge Reservation21. Little Wolf. Cheyenne Indians22. Peter Shangrau. Ute Indians, 190623. Maggie Palmer. Janis family24. Mrs. Nicholas Janis. Nicholas Janis25. Mrs. Julia Bradford. Henry C. Clifford26. Nettie Elizabeth Goings. Goings family, Frank Grouard27. William Girton. Bull Bear/Red Cloud28. William Young. Henry Young29. Mrs. Charles C. Clifford. Biography, Saunders escape on Cache la Poudre30. Amos Ross. Biography, Pine Ridge ministryAppendix A: FortsAppendix B: AgenciesNotesBibliographyIndex
About the Author :
Richard E. Jensen is retired from the Nebraska State Historical Society, where he was senior research anthropologist. His most recent books are The Pawnee Mission Letters, 1834–1851 and Eyewitness at Wounded Knee, both available from the University of Nebraska Press.
Review :
"Amazing personal accounts [are] in these volumes... Here is western history at its finest vivid oral narratives that very well may become the stuff of prize-winning stories, novels, and films." Bloomsbury Review. "A magnificent achievement to the oral-history sources available on the American West... The strength of the volumes is in the stories told by the interviewees, with their perspectives on key historical events from the Old West, which is equally suited to the student and the academic scholar." American Studies. "The interviews are a gold mine of information, and researchers will be rewarded for digging through them. Jensen has helped a great deal by organizing the book into three main chapters subdivided by respondent and topic... Ricker left Nebraska and the West an important source of information, and Jensen has made this more user-friendly by his organization and commentary." Great Plains Quarterly. "Ricker proved himself a patient and meticulous oral interviewer, giving voice to people mostly ignored by historians of his day. His subjects document the Ghost Dance as a genuine religious movement, not as a craze as described in white accounts... Editor Richard Jensen provides a true service, for having translated Ricker's arcane handwritten notes into readable form and for his endnotes filled with biographical information."James N. Leiker, Kansas History. "Priceless sources of information that offer more balanced perspectives on events than were accepted at the time...There is no doubt that the voices and stories captured here in both books will be of significant value." Lincoln Journal Star. "Anyone wishing to know more about Wounded Knee, the Little Bighorn, the history of the western frontier in general, and many other topics will certainly want to refer to Jensen"s work." Rick Ewig, North Dakota History.
