The Dakota Conflict and Its Leaders, 1862–1865

Custer, Sitting Bull and Little Bighorn are familiar names in the history of the American West. Yet the Great Sioux War of 1876 was a less notorious affair than earlier events in Minnesota during 1862 when, over a few bloody weeks, hundreds of white settlers were killed by Sioux led by Little Crow. The following three years saw military thrusts under generals Sibley and Sully onto the Western Plains where hundreds of Indians, as innocent as the white victims, were cut down by American soldiers. From this carnage Sitting Bull first emerged as a military leader. This history reexamines the facts behind Sitting Bull’s legend and that of the white captive, Fanny Kelly.

The late Paul Williams worked in the television and film industries as a writer, producer and director and wrote several books about the American frontier and the Civil War. He lived in Melbourne, Australia.

Paul Williams
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 261
Bibliographic Info: 32 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8069-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3931-4
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments v
Preface 1
1. Don’t Try and Cross the River There 5
2. Popularity Is His God 13
3. Subsisted on a Tall Grass 25
4. You Know Not What You Are Doing 34
5. A Dreadful Scene 40
6. We Laughed in Spite of Our Danger 57
7. We Shall Need More Guns 81
8. I Have a Great Many Prisoners, Women and Children 93
9. They Will Never Get My Live Body 102
10. Maniacs or Wild Beasts 113
11. Five Minutes Would Dispose of a Case 121
12. The Shot That Killed Him 140
13. The Girl I Left Behind Me 146
14. The Results Are Entirely Satisfactory 164
15. An Indian Campaign Is Approved 180
16. Am I Free, Indeed Free? 196
17. They Fear It Is Only a Trap 213
18. The Indian No Longer Has a Country 224
Appendix: Timeline of the Dakota War of 1862–1865 229
Chapter Notes 233
Bibliography 241
Index 247