Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot

I must admit to a penchant for the Indians' side of things and will freely admit that such brutes as Custer and the monster who led the Sand Creek massacre in Oklahoma got what they had coming to them as far as I am concerned. This book is riveting and portrays Sitting Bull in a compassionate and honest manner. Researched thoroughly, written clearly in a non-pedantic way and drawing on a vast array of resources this book is a real treasure. If you are a fan of US History this is a must. The "epic" opening up of the "wild" west was nothing but irresponsible greed and was genocidal. I feel as if I was actually present in that era when reading this book, it is so immediate and engaging. If you can read this and not come away cheering for Chief Sitting Bull you just simply have no soul. This is a GREAT book about a GREAT man!

Robert Utley's "Sitting Bull:The Life And Times Of An American Patriot" is a splendid biography of the eminent Hunkpapa Sioux leader. Utley covers the full span of Sitting Bull's life using primarily primary(firsthand) sources and deftly manages to paint a portrait of a tangible "flesh & blood" human being. Utley, one of the greatest historians of the American West and the former chief historian of the National Park Service, treats his subject with deep sympathy and fairness but fairly explicates Sitting Bull's strengths and weaknesses and offers analysis and conclusions that are sober and well informed. The real strength of this biography is post-Little Bighorn because Sitting Bull's life became far more complicated at this point, and Utley does an admirable job of explaining the myriad complications of the Indian chief's life on the run from a vengeful U.S. Army, in sanctuary in Canada which created diplomatic pressures between the United States and Canada and Great Britain, and his capitulation(and sad realization)that his peoples'(and all plains Indians) nomadic lifestyles had come to an end, to Sitting Bulls embrace of the Ghost Dance which ultimately led to his demise. Superb and first rate!!!!Incidentally, the original title of this work(and the one Utley prefers) is "The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull". If one looks up the original title of this work on Amazon they will find many more reviews of this very same book(save the title). Additionally, as a companion to this fine biography the interested reader may also want to read Utley's excellent biography of George Armstrong Custer titled "Cavalier in Buckskin: George Armstrong Custer and the Western Military Frontier".

Robert L. Utley's Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot, written in 1993, provides an authoritative account of the life of Sitting Bull from a historian's perspective. His primary source material was taken from the Walter S. Campbell Collection at the University of Oklahoma Library in Norman, Oklahoma along with official government records from the US and Canada. According to Utley, prior to his book, the standard biography of Stanley Vestal approached Sitting Bull from a literary rather than a historical perspective. In the book, Utley portrayed Sitting Bull as a real person as opposed to the larger-than-life "romanticized caricature" of the 1960s "red power" movement or the ultimate Sioux warrior leader and archenemy of the US Army. There was a real Sitting Bull, and Utley largely succeeds in presenting him, the good with the bad, the leader and the warrior. Utley, a historian with many significant books on the American West, is well suited to the task.Sitting Bull stands as the last key Lakota chief who resisted the reservation system and clung to the old ways until he could do so no longer. From an early age, Sitting Bull was recognized as a leader, first in battles with tradition Lakota enemies. His reputation grew based on battle exploits, and later based on his strength and persistence demonstrated in opposing the whites. Much of American history has lauded Sitting Bull based on his actions at the Battle of Little Bighorn, but Utley's book shows his significance to be much more. A major focus of the book deals with Sitting Bull's role as the last Lakota holdout opposing the reservation system. Attempting to preserve his people's freedom and culture, he took them to Canada to escape the US Army's attempts to force them to a reservation. For a short time, Sitting Bull's Hunkpapas lived well in Canada. Unfortunately, they soon faced food shortages, disputes with other tribes, internal conflict, and pressure from both the US and Canadian governments. After much stalling and as a last resort, Sitting Bull surrendered himself and his people to the reservation system.Unfortunately, Sitting Bull was unable to adapt to the reservation system and was ill-suited to do so since Indian Policy called for a drastic transformation of his culture. This transformation was too slow for the US Government and too fast for Sitting Bull and others who clung to the old ways. Additionally, while Sitting Bull remained a leader for his people throughout his life and advocated for them, he did not have the political experience or acumen of Red Cloud. In the view of James McLaughlin, Indian Agent for the Standing Rock Reservation where Sitting Bull lived, he was an impediment to progress and the conforming of the Sioux to the reservation system. Inevitably, he would meet a tragic fate during an attempted arrest involving his participation in the Ghost Dance. In retrospect, this echoes the fate of Crazy Horse and was a foreshadowing of the Wounded Knee Massacre which was soon to follow. To his last day, Sitting Bull remained a leader to his people in seeking to preserve their culture.

Excellent

Written wonderfully

Full of interesting anecdotes and characters, thorough in scope yet easy to follow. I thought the bits on Lakota-Sioux rites of passage and all their traditions such as the Sun Dance were really interesting. Utley does a nice job staying true to the facts without losing the reader in arcane details. I read this and almost immediately bought his other book on Geronimo. Read in preparation for an episode of my podcast (Hard Fried History).

The details captured in this book are riveting. A great view into the post civil war period of America's expansive history, and obviously the greatest spiritual leader of the indigenous North American tribes at that time! Very thought provoking and inspirational in many ways. Great read!

Very well researched book. Lets you realize how badly the US Government treated the indigenous people of the US. Is it any wonder why the indigenous tribes of the US do not trust the Federal Government.

Excellent product, very well informed about sitting bull and his life,very interesting

This seems to be an excellent insight into an amazing man. It is certainly well documented and the author tries to present a balanced view of this history. As with all history one is lead to reflect on the paths not taken.

This is a brilliant and extremely well researched book! However I must point out that it is a re-issue of an earlier book which was called "The Lance and the Shield". It is the same book given a different name and a new cover.

I have always had an inexplicable place in my heart for Indigenous people, and now that I live and work in a FN community, I am thirsty for historical information. As a non-Indigenous person, a lot of the content is a bitter pill to swallow but necessary if one wants the truth and can accept the reality of it.