Savage Conquest (59 page)

At that historical battle, four of Custer's relatives
were slain: two brothers, one nephew, and a brotherin-law. Later, Major Reno was court-martialed, and
while he was eventually exonerated for his conduct,
he lived the next ten years under the stigma of betrayal and cowardice.

Crazy Horse and his Oglala band hunted and
camped until the next spring when the famed
warrior was compelled to surrender to the Cavalry to
save the lives of his remaining people. His camp had
been attacked by Col. Nelson A. Miles, but Crazy
Horse and his band had escaped. Crook had then offered the warrior chief a favored reservation, among
other promises. Without food and weapons and with
his people dying, Crazy Horse gave himself up to the
Cavalry at Fort Robinson in May of 1877. When the
Army feared the warrior was going to escape and
instigate new uprisings, they took it upon themselves
to arrest and imprison the influential chief. During a
scuffle to avoid imprisonment, Crazy Horse was
bayoneted. He died in September of 1877 at age 37.

The cry had gone forth to "avenge" Custer. The
Black Hills were taken from the Sioux and other
Indian tribes. Any Indian survivor had to be confined
to a reservation or be slain. Any leader or chief with
influence was hunted down and either killed or
imprisoned. Indian language, customs, religion,
ceremonies, dances, dress, and burial practices were
outlawed as a means of control and punishment.

After the Little Bighorn battle, Sitting Bull was
harassed and pursued until he fled with his band into
Canada. There they faced starvation and cold. The
wily General Terry offered Sitting Bull a pardon if he
would surrender to him. Knowing that Crazy Horse
had been slain, and other bands were being wiped out
or conquered, in 1881, Sitting Bull was compelled to
surrender in order to save his remaining people from certain death in the Canadian wilds. He was held
prisoner at Fort Randall, then moved frequently to
guard his location. At the Standing Rock Reservation, Sitting Bull was allowed some peace for a time.
He wrote, spoke, and visited Washington and the
"White Chief." His poignant letters and speeches
reveal the depth of the Indian suffering.

In 1888 Wovoka began the "Ghost Dance" religion. The whites and military dreaded and respected
the power and influence of medicine chiefs and
skilled warriors such as Sitting Bull, and they were
distressed over this new religion which united and
encouraged the spirit of the warriors. FearingSitting
Bull would escape and stir up new conflicts, he was
ordered arrested. His people rebelled against this new
humiliation of their chief. On December 15, 1890, a
ruckus broke out over the alleged "liberation" of
Tatanka Yotanka, and he was declared shot during a
confrontation with Indian police.

The death of Sitting Bull convinced many of his
followers to flee to the Pine Ridge Reservation near
the Black Hills. Miles and Gibbon were ordered to
pursue and recapture them. On December 29, 1890,
the massacre of Wounded Knee took place, with the
slaying of over 300 unarmed Indians of both sexes
and all ages. (The second battle at Wounded Knee
occurred on February 27, 1973.) Ironically, Custer's
Seventh Cavalry was almost annihilated at the Little
Bighorn battle; yet it was the Seventh Cavalry who
was responsible for the Wounded Knee Massacre
fourteen days after the death of Sitting Bull.

Other great chiefs mentioned in this story experienced similar fates. The two major chiefs who
signed the Laramie Treaty in 1868 and had agencies
and reservations named after them were Red Cloud
(Mahpialuta) and Spotted Tail (Sinte Galeska). Red
Cloud, whose son was with Crazy Horse at the Little
Bighorn, is also known for his poignant speeches
and letters to Washington. His remaining spirit was
broken after the death of Sitting Bull and the
Wounded Knee Massacre. Oglala Chief Red Cloud
lived sadly and quietly until his death in 1909. Brule
Sioux Chief Spotted Tail, whose sister was the
mother of Crazy Horse, was most influential in peace
efforts. While living on the Rosebud Reservation, he
was shot and killed in 1881. Hunkpapa Sioux Chief
Gall (Pizi), adopted brother of Sitting Bull, fled with
Sitting Bull into Canada but returned to his old
hunting grounds in 1881. Without food and weapons, he was compelled to surrender to Miles. Once
one of the fiercest warriors, he became known for his
peace efforts which he continued until his death in
1896.

Martha Jane Canary Burke (Calamity Jane) lived
and worked in the manner described in this novel.
Later she performed in Wild West shows. She died in
1903.

The soldiers included in this story were responsible for the conquest and subjugation of other
tribes in addition to the powerful and noble Sioux.
Crook and his troops overcame the Apache. With the
aid of Miles, the famed Geronimo was captured in 1886. Miles had already defeated the prestigious Nez
Perce Chief Joseph in 1877 with the assistance of
Gibbon. Sherman had previously ordered the "utter
extermination" of the Modocs in 1872, and had
suppressed the powerful Kiowa Chief Satanta, whose
prison release in 1873 sent Sherman on another
rampage. Either by action or order, these soldiers
were responsible for the conquest and defeat of most
major Western tribes. Oddly, among these white
soldiers, Crook and Custer had the most favorable
images in the eyes of the Indians.

This author has made every attempt to portray the
historical events and characters, Indian and white, as
accurately as possible. I extend my appreciation for
the assistance and Sioux translations furnished by
my friend, Hiram Owen, of the Sisseton-Wahpeton
Sioux Tribes.

DANA RANSOM'S RED-HOT HEARTFIRES!

Alexandra had known Tucker for all her seventeen years,
but all at once she realized her childhood friend was the
man capable of tempting her to leave innocence behind!

Kathryn Mallory's sincere questions about her father's
ship to the disreputable Captain Brady Rogan were met
with mocking indifference. Then he noticed her trim waist,
angelic face and Kathryn won the wrong kind of attention!

Nothing could match the true thrill that coursed through
Gloria Daniels when she first spotted the gambler, Sterling
Caulder. Experiencing his embrace, feeling his lips against
hers would be a risk, but she was willing to chance it all!

Evangeline, set free from Indians, discovered liberty had
its price to pay when her uncle sold her into marriage to
Royce Tanner. Dreaming of her return to the people she
loved, she vowed never to submit to her husband's caress.

Lucille Blessing had no time for the new marshal Sam
Zachary. His mocking and arrogant manner grated her
nerves, yet she longed to ease the tension she knew he held
inside. She knew that if he wanted her, she could never say
no!

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FEEL THE FIRE IN CAROL FINCH'S ROMANCES!

Sabrina Spencer donned a gray wig and veiled hat before
blackmailing rugged Ridge Thnner into guiding her to Fort
Canby. But the costume soon became her prison-the
beauty had fallen head over heels in love!