My Life On The Plains

In 1874, just two years before General George A. Custer's death at Little Big Horn, a collection of his magazine articles was published as "My Life on the Plains." Custer, General in the U.S. Army's Seventh Cavalry, wrote personal accounts of his encounters with Native Americans during the western Indian warfare of 1867-1869. The collection was a document of its time and an important primary source for anyone interested in U.S. military affairs and U.S./Native American relations. Custer's references to Indians as "bloodthirsty savages" were tempered by his empathetic understanding of their reason for fighting: "If I were an Indian, I often think I would greatly prefer to cast my lot among those of my people who adhered to the free open plains, rather than submit to the confined limits of a reservation..."

In arresting, but harrowing, prose, James Daschuk examines the roles that Old World diseases, climate, and, most disturbingly, Canadian politics--the politics of ethnocide--played in the deaths and subjugation of thousands of aboriginal people in the realization of Sir John A. Macdonald's "National Dream." It was a dream that came at great expense: the present disparity in health and economic well-being between First Nations and non-Native populations, and the lingering racism and misunderstanding that permeates the national consciousness to this day. " Clearing the Plains is a tour de force that dismantles and destroys the view that Canada has a special claim to humanity in its treatment of indigenous peoples. Daschuk shows how infectious disease and state-supported starvation combined to create a creeping, relentless catastrophe that persists to the present day. The prose is gripping, the analysis is incisive, and the narrative is so chilling that it leaves its reader stunned and disturbed. For days after reading it, I was unable to shake a profound sense of sorrow. This is fearless, evidence-driven history at its finest." -Elizabeth A. Fenn, author of Pox Americana "Required reading for all Canadians." -Candace Savage, author of A Geography of Blood "Clearly written, deeply researched, and properly contextualized history...Essential reading for everyone interested in the history of indigenous North America." -J.R. McNeill, author of Mosquito Empires

This is an expanded, posthumous version of Custer's "My Life on the Plains" with additional chapters. Whatever you think of George Armstrong Custer, his permanence in American Western history and the history of the Civil War are assured. That makes his writings on his life in the west and his observations of Indian life fascinating to read. It may be surprising to many that Custer felt that, despite his views of Indians largely conforming to those of his white contemporaries, he felt injustices had been done to the Native Americans. He also felt that if he were in their place, he would resent and resist being moved off of traditional lands. A number of other authors lent their talents to creating additional chapters for this 1891 edition. In addition, for the first time in this volume is General Hazen's criticism of Custer's book. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above. Buy it today!

Howes and others give scathing review of this work as unreliable. Drannan's wife may have actually written most of the book, based on her husband's stories. Drannan has himself as the rescuer of Olive Oatman, and a companion of Kit Carson.

For use in schools and libraries only. Depicts the historical background, social organization, and daily life of a Plains Indian village in 1868, presenting interiors, landscapes, clothing, and everyday objects.

This anthology chronicles the Plains Indians' struggle to maintain their traditional way of life in the changing world of the nineteenth century. Its rich variety of 34 primary sources -- including narratives, myths, speeches, and transcribed oral histories -- gives students the rare opportunity to view the transformation of the West from Native American perspective. Calloway's introduction offers information on western expansion, territorial struggles among Indian tribes, the slaughter of the buffalo, and forced assimilation through the reservation system. More than 30 pieces of Plains Indian art are included, along with maps, headnotes, questions for consideration, a bibliography, a chronology, and an index.

History, geography, and way of life of the Plains Indians.

A firsthand historical adventure and unmatched documentary record of the continent's proudest native Americans.