MacKenzie's Last Fight with the Cheyennes (Expanded, Annotated)

This book covers one battle, but its descriptions clearly describe the environment and the people participating in battles throughout the west. I needed a dictionary for 5 or 6 words, but it wasn’t a distraction. Very entertaining, informative, and was a ‘can’t put it down’ book for me.

This book is about 50 pages of a report on one of the western Army expeditions to annihilate the Native American in the 1870s in Wyoming territory. Colonel Mackenzie was the "clean-up" officer sent to finish the battles with Native Americans. He was brutal and efficient in destroying them, their villages, and property. The actual battle is only about three pages of the book. The author gives vivid and complete descriptions of army life, the territory, and the environment through which the American Army passed "clearing out" the natives so settlers could move in and populate the western territory of the United States. It is concise and a quick read.

Clearly, Captain John G. Bourke was present at many momentous events in the 1866 through 1876 military campaigns dealing with the Plains Indians. He not only is mentioned in many books about this period, he has written a number of short books describing his various expeditions. This particular short book was about the final winter expedition against the Cheyenne Indians. My respect goes out to those soldiers, scouts, and officers who launched out into an unknown element to wage war against the most efficient cavalry known to the world. Maps were sparse and almost unknown of this frontier territory. Danger was continuous from minute to minute and from every quarter.Bourke goes into detail about what it was like to be part of an enormous military expedition in the dead of winter into the Dakotas and Wyoming Territories. This particular detail was with 1,400 soldiers, scouts and drivers. Just hearing about the logistics with which to prepare and then engage the Cheyennes in this last big fight was extraordinarily interesting. Can you imagine how many pack animals were required to mobilize that many people? While the details about how many rounds of ammunition per soldier and how many mules to pack them are interesting, this is not just a report by a Quartermaster. Excitement begins to build, as he chronicles the reports back by the scouts as the engagements approach. Vivid descriptions of the battle conditions and elements of the weather are very articulately described. Bourke is a very eloquent and powerful writer. When you read other books about this time period and about Plains Indians, the name of Bourke appears frequently because he was a prolific and chronicler of this time period.If you have an interest in this very interesting period of opening up the West, then I encourage you to read this book.

This author was one of the great minds of the 19th century. While serving in the US Army he was aware of the Native American culture he was getting a chance to meet and get to know. 5Mostly the scouts but also the tribes the Army was sent to "resettle". The author was self taught and in this book, at least, showed great respect for his "enemy". No bias that I could ascertain, just awe and respect. A fine read.

I thought this book would go more into details about the actual fighting between the army and the Indians. However, it explained in detail the suffering by the army during winter campaigns. It also presented a unique perspective of mules and the men who worked them.

We are lucky to have John Bourke write about this for anyone interested in the Indian Wars. It is an excellent account of Col. MacKenzie,, the greatest military man who worked to settle the Sest. It is easy to read, funny and a short book of about 74 pages, which normally would be a summary of an Army Expedition at that time. To gain a broader understanding of the account, I suggest reading 'forty Miles a Day on Beans and Hay' to gain a better understanding of the events reported by Bourke.

John Bourke writes in a very entertaining manner. His humour permeates the entire piece. Living in Wyoming makes it easy to imagine the hardships the troops and scouts faced on the campaign trail in winter. It can get fierce here. Bourke's description of cavalry campaign life fit perfectly with journals of other soldiers in the field during that time. His language is highly descriptive. One can readily "see" what he is detailing. Yes, this is a fine read.

An easy read of a most difficult ending to the Indian wars on the plains. It was a sad but inevitable conclusion.