3 Review(s)

Gen. Phil Sheridan called the Red River War of 1874 the most successful Indian campaign ever waged. Many of its incidents have become frontier legends, but only here is the extraordinary episode chronicled in full in all of its intricate ad amazing detail. Author/historian James L. Haley has carefully analyzed the causes of the Indian unrest, centering upon the great buffalo slaughter which threatened to destroy forever the foundation of Indian life. The competing factions which shaped the course of events during the conflicts---war and peace factions' competing for control within the Indian tribes, officers' competing for commands and promotions within the U.S. Army and the Indian Bureau's competing for policy control within government bureaucracies--are brilliantly researched and described, as are the battle strategies and engagements that made the Buffalo War such a curious blend of savagery, heroics, accidents and confusion on both sides. Mr. Haley's extensive research heavily on contemporary letters and reports, and his many new findings overturned a number of myths and prejudices which had surfaced during the hundred years since the Red River uprising. The result is an exciting, authentic narrative filled with colorful events and personalities of a crucial time in the history of the American frontiers, included are fifty-eight rare photographs of the Indian leaders, buffalo hunters, army officers and Indian agents who played roles in the history of the Buffalo War.