BOOKS
Black Elk: The Life of an American
Visionary (2016, by Joe Jackson):
The Oglala Lakota mystic Black Elk
fought at the Little Bighorn, survived
Wounded Knee, traveled with Buffalo
Bill’s Wild West, converted to Catholi-
cism and in his latter years openly
shared his life story and extraordinary
vision. Jackson captures his transcen-
dent life in a well-rounded narrative.The Killing of Crazy Horse (2010,
by Thomas Powers): Many Wild West
readers know the superficial details of
Oglala Lakota war chief Crazy Horse’s
demise, but nowhere is that tragic
ending, not to mention the remark-
able life that preceded it, better told
than in this well-reasoned and -docu-
mented book, where kith and kin,
Indian wars, bitter rivalries and un-
imagined duplicity merge in a drama
powerful enough to make one cringe.Regular Army O! Soldiering on the
Western Frontier, 1865–1891 (2017,
by Douglas C. McChristian): This
history of the common men and cul-
ture of the Old Army is narrated by
an author who has chased the story
for a lifetime. The scholarship is en-
compassing and intense, the docu-
mentation extraordinary, the resulting
work duly heralded as definitive.American Carnage: Wounded Knee,
1890 (2014, by Jerome A Greene):
The Wounded Knee story has had many
chroniclers, but none have delivered it
with such diligence and careful scrutiny as
Greene, one of America’s finest military
historians. His narrative is well grounded,
giving both sides their full due, and leads
to a wry ending that while differing from
the obvious still leaves a tear.ON-SCREEN
Fort Apache (1948, RKO Radio
Pictures): In this first installment of
director John Ford’s popular cavalry
trilogy, adapted from a James Warner
Bellah short story, Henry Fonda plays
a scarcely masked Custer with referen-
ces to the Little Bighorn throughout.
The movie is less homage than an inti-
mate look at the Old Army. Consider
the trilogy a bundled best of class.She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949,
RKO Radio Pictures): This Bellah
story brought to film by Ford offers a
delightful sense of the culture of the
Old Army. It’s much like watching
a Captain Charles King novel or ele-
ments of Doug McChristian’s Regular
Army O! unfold on the big screen.Stagecoach
(1939, United
Artists): Dis-
regard the
charge that
Ford here
presents
American
Indians in
simplistic
terms. Enjoy
instead the
skilled adaption
of an Ernest Haycox short story about
an oddball mix of characters enduring
a stage ride across the Southwest in the
dangerous days of Apache mayhem.Little Big Man (1970, National General
Pictures): Director Arthur Penn brought
to life Thomas Berger’s imaginative
novel about the warring between the
Northern Cheyennes vs. Custer. Much
of the filming was done in Montana,
including on the Little Bighorn battle-A Terrible
Glory: Custer
and the Little
Bighorn—the
Last Great
Battle of
the American
West
(2008, by James Donovan):
Of the myriad books about
George Armstrong Custer
and the Battle of the Little
Bighorn, this is simply the
best. Donovan recounts the
greater campaign, the fight
and post-battle consequen-
ces in a superb, thoroughly
documented narrative.
REVIEWS8 2 WILD WEST JUNE 2019
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PAUL HEDREN EXPLORES INDIAN WARS BOOKS AND MOVIES