In The Shadow of Wounded Knee: The Untold Final Chapter of the Indian Wars

by Roger L. Di Silvestro

The story of the last deaths in the American Indian wars and their far-reaching ramifications The massacre of at least 150 Indians by the U.S. Army along Wounded Knee Creek in the Lakota reservation on December 29, 1890 generally is considered the closing salvo in America's Indian Wars. But as Roger L. Di Silvestro reveals in startling detail, the fight was hardly over. Two tragic events in the weeks immediately following would reignite the conflict and forever color its legacy. In the Shadow of Wounded Knee is the first book to chronicle the senseless killings that riveted the country in 1891: the assassination of Lieutenant Edward Casey by the young Brulé Lakota warrior Plenty Horses, and the ambush of Few Tails and two other Indians by rancher Pete Culbertsons and his brothers. According to frontier justice of the day, Plenty Horses would have been summarily hanged and the Culbertsons would never have been tried. Yet in the aftermath of Wounded Knee--a slaughter that had horrified politicians, soldiers, and citizens alike--the trial of Plenty Horses made headlines nationwide as a cause célèbre. Soon prosecutors faced a if Plenty Horses were convicted, then the Army itself would have to be held accountable for its actions at Wounded Knee. How Plenty Horses--a "civilized" Indian who was educated in a school back east--was ultimately exonerated, and the Culbertsons were forced to stand trial, forms a fascinating closing chapter in the Indian Wars and in the last days of the Old West.

Genres: History, American History

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Far from my normal genre, but an interesting read on the American/Native American conflicts at the end of the 1800s.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched concerning the trials of Plenty Horses for the killing of Lieutenant Edward Casey, and of the Culbertson brothers for the killing of Few Tails. Very poorly researched account of Wounded Knee relying exclusively on the work of other secondary sources. Disappointing that modern historians so readily accept the work of earlier authors rather than take the time to pour through the volumes of testimony and first person accounts that detail that American tragedy. Rather than study and report on a well recorded historical record, so many authors are satisfied with recording what they have come to believe, and want their readers to believe, a politically correct and socially acceptable version of events.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't exactly an 'untold' story. The first half of the book was told, and with considerably more emotion and detail, in Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". The second half is more original, but no less uncompelling: a typical legal proceeding mixed with some cursory information on Native American culture. Any firsthand account of Native American life from a personal perspective is appreciated, but here, it's not enough to justify this book, especially in light of Dee Brown's earlier work.