The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend

Custer, Sitting Bull and reservations were all I knew before. This in depth look at the times, cultures and people, both Native Americans and whites is an education everyone should have. In particular, it’s the backstory that we all need as told through the life of Red Cloud, an influential Chief I never heard of. I thoroughly enjoyed the read, looking forward to it at every sitting. I think it helps to bring much needed historical context in understanding the cost of the westward expansion of our country to both native Americans and settlers. But as usual, egos, politics, greed and power always had the greatest impact on both sides.

This was a very good book recounting the life of Red Cloud , the only Indian chief to ever successfully wage a war against the US government. The book covers his entire life from the death of his alcoholic father and the subsequent childhood raised by the Ogalala branch of the Sioux tribe that his mother hailed from.His success was due to his ability to have the different branches of the Sioux tribe and other tribes (Cheyenne and Arapaho) work together to keep the white people out of one the last remaining hunting grounds of the Sioux people (Powder River Basin) As civilization began to encroach on their traditional homelands, the tribe was forced into smaller and smaller areas farther west . Things came to a head when the Bozeman trail was built in Wyoming to allow easier and quicker access to the Montana gold strikes. This road was going to bring an end to the Indian's way of life and Red Cloud was able to launch a successful guerilla war campaign against the travellers on the trail and the calvary troops assigned to protect it. The high point was the so called "Fetterman Massacre" known to the Sioux as the "battle of the hundred slain " in which the entire command (81 men) under Capt Fetterman were lured away from protecting a wood cutter detail and killed in a quick 30 minute battle.After the Fetterman incident the campaign continued for another year but the government soon realized that it needed to make peace with Red Cloud and ended up closing the Bozeman trail and withdrawing from 3 forts built to protect it.The book gives a good deal of attention to Red Cloud's army nemesis - Col Carrington, a civil war veteran who hadn't seen any action and his civil war battle hardened underling - Capt Fetterman. Additionally the book gives a great deal of insight into the history of the Sioux tribe from the 1600s. How the tribe was organized - 7 branches and the western Sioux had 7 sub tribes which we are familiar with as they formed the core of resistance to white civilization on the high plains. There are a couple of excellent chapters of what daily life was like as a member of the Sioux tribe , the rituals, the diet, the hunting techniques, the division of labor etc. All of it was very interesting. The final thing I liked about the book was that the author let you know geographic locations by their present day states. IE "the Lakota tribe emigrated west from Minnesota and spent many decades on the Missouri in present day South Dakota. For people that haven't travelled a lot in the US west it makes the story easier to understand . Also the maps provided , even in kindle for very friendly and easy to understand.

This is a very good book. The authors tell the story well and keep the reader engaged. I found it very similar in style to S. C. Gwynne's "Empire of the Summer Moon." So if you read and enjoyed that one you will also enjoy this one. It's one I'll keep in my library.

I have a profound admiration and respect for this man who brought himself up through disadvantaged Heritage and cultural odds. The authors provided such incredible firsthand accounts of the situations that took place in that era. Some accounts so very gruesome, but yet honest. The white man’s hunger and lust for the western territory is so very shameful In the treatment of the native Americans. Anyone that loves history of our American West and its taking will undoubtedly want to read this book.

The book's title should also include, not for the faint hearted. Bob Drury and Tom Clavin don't mince words when describing the horrors of the battlefield, or maybe the mutilation field is a better term. I'm aware of the habits of the Sioux Indians, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse, because I read the Dan Simmons novel,' Black Hills' . As a matter of fact, his main character was Paha Sapa, which means Black Hills. But for the life of me, I can't remember reading about Red Cloud, so this non-fiction work was a real eye opener for me. With all the violence around him and in him, it's hard to believe that he died a peaceful death at the age of 87 in 1909. The book's about Red Cloud's War, but focuses on the Battle of the Hundred-in-the-Hands on 12/21/1866 in the Great Plains. Somehow Red Cloud was able to unite the Lakota (all seven Sioux tribes), Cheyenne, Arapaho, and others in an attempt to eradicate the White man from the Great Plains once and for all.A lot of things contributed to the all out war against the U.S. Army. The dribble of white settlers heading west became a flood of wagons after gold was discovered in California. Also the wholesale killing of the buffalos and the spreading of diseases that Indians had no immunity for didn't set well with the Great Plains tribes. During the mid 1860s, the white man would reduce the buffalo population from 30 million to 1,000 in the next forty years. The buffalo meat was important to the Indians, but worthless to the white man. Broken treaties and conniving Indian Agents added fuel to the fire. In 1856 all the tribes of Lakota met to form united front to stop the white threat. It is said that 10,000 Indians attended that meeting. The Lakota Indians are not farmers, nor do they stay in one place long. They are raiders of other Indian tribes, horse stealers, and buffalo hunters. They only tolerated the Cheyenne. The Lakota believe they are warriors and want to stay that way. They take pride in Counting Coup (touching an enemy with a coup stick during battle and leaving unharmed). They heavily attacked white wagons heading west with one wagon out of eleven never making it passed the Rockies. Things got worse for the pioneers in the west when the U.S. Army left the Great Plains to fight the Civil War in 1861.After the Civil War, many soldiers were released from duty, leaving very few to defend Fort Reno, Fort Phil Kearny, and Fort C.F. Smith, which were there to protect the migration of the Easterners, who were following the Bozeman Trail to Virginia City, Montana and then to the Oregon Trail . The U.S. Army was heavily outnumbered and were slaughtered and mutilated on many occasions. Red Cloud's battle with Captain Fetterman's 2nd Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment is epic. I thought the savagery of the book was a bit too much, but I guess the authors wanted to tell it like it was. The sidebar characters were strong. I enjoyed the Mountain man, Jim `Old Gabe' Bridger, a friend of the famous, Jedediah Smith. I admired the tactics Crazy Horse used to lure the U.S. Army into ambushes. Most of Red Cloud's thoughts were conveyed to a French Canadian fur trader named Sam Deon, who did the great chief's autobiography. Sam Deon was probably the only white man who was befriended and protected by Red Cloud. Some of the incidents in this book inspired other novels; such as, Nelson Gile, who drove a herd of 3,000 longhorns and a wagon train from Texas to Montana, while fighting thousands of hostile Indians. This episode became Larry McMurtry's famous novel, 'Lonesome Dove' .Finally, I thought the authors slightly favored the Lakota (whose favorite meal was boiled dog and buffalo tongue), but in retrospect, I guess the book was fair. The White man might of won the West, but he paid dearly for it in human life. This was a non-fiction history book, but Drury and Clavin put so much excitement in the chapters that I thought I was reading fiction. And that is exactly how I like to read history. This book is a must for the Wild West fans and history buffs. I highly recommend this enlightening narrative.

Very interesting that he remained unheard of for so many years but was such a big influence on those that were famous. This is a well written book that casts the real criminals(the Gov't and Cavalry) in a harsh light.Anyone that thinks this books is racist in it's context, read it with a preconceived notion and a very jaundiced eye. A book can't be racist, only what is said in its content which is definitely NOT occurring within these pages. The tribes were lied to, stolen from and slaughtered by the tens of thousands. They retaliated when it was feasible to do so. Red Cloud proved to be a lot smarter than anyone in opposition could have imagined.

Ok

ES UN LIBRO INTERESANTÍSIMO PARA PERSONAS INTERESADAS EN OTRA VERSIÓN HISTÓRICA NO HOLLYWOODENSE.

The book is written very vividly, sometimes very brutally, but gives you a realistic picture of what the american pioneers went through when they settled there. It does not gloss over details and you might think that some of it need not have been written, but the total picture that it gives is an unforgettable one. You are particularly happy with the characterization of the hero

ce livre reprend l autobiographie au complète de red cloud et y insère des éléments nouveau sur la guerre de 1866 -1868 mais s arrête a la paix signée avec red cloud a fort Laramie et ne poursuit pas le reste de sa vie et est donc très incomplet ,il manque plus de 30 ans de la vie du célèbre bad face , pour complété ce livre je vous conseille le livre de george e hyde red cloud folk, ainsi que le livre de james olson: red cloud , il vous faut aussi le livre de robert larson : red cloud , ces 3 biographie sont essentiel et ce complète a merveille , acheté aussi sont autobiographie red cloud ogallala war chieftous ces livres serait incomplet sans les ouvrages de crazy horse , ses biographies qui sont liées lisez crazy horse de mari sandoz et crazy horse de kingsley m bray