Mari Sandoz (1896–1966)

I picked this book up in the NPS bookstore at the Badlands National Park visitor center, which had (as of 2023) a relatively small but very well curated selection. When I bought the book I expected it to be a biography but it is actually a lot closer to what we would today describe as historical fiction. That is not, of course, to denigrate it in any way; like the best historical fiction it is deeply and thoroughly researched but adds to the research a level of wisdom and insight that allows an author to inhabit the story and create plausible connective tissue to fill in the gaps and bridge the inconsistencies in historical accounts. I mention this because I agree with other reviewers who have mentioned that if this book was published today it would probably garner a much broader audience. It isn't just that Sandoz unapologetically takes the side of Native Americans that ensured the book was largely ignored when it was first published. It is also her style, her willingness to fully commit to a style of storytelling that was outside of her time but is perhaps much closer to her own.

Of course, it was only outside of her time in terms of expectations of white readers. A fascinating perspective is provided by the foreword contributed by noted Native American activist and author, Vine Deloria Jr. He admits that he panned the book when it first came out; while finding it informative, he was resentful of the attempt by a white woman to tell the story from the Indian perspective and even to attempt to write in a way that mimicked--as he saw it then--in an "Indian" style. When he came back to it years later, after many years doing his own research, it was like reading a different book. In her depiction not just of major events but the day-to-day lives of Native Americans, she "captured nuances that only a few would know and understand," a fact he attributed not simply to her research, or the fact that she had grown up in close proximity to the Siioux, many of whom had been alive during these events (a reminder how relatively recent all this "history" is, especially when measured on the time scale of human settlement in the Americas) but her deep understanding of the region itself.

For that reason, anyone expecting a simple narrative of "good Indians and evil Whites" will be disappointed. Sandoz is extremely attentive to the infighting and politicking among the various tribes and factions. Some of this was historical and geographical and almost ritualistic in nature. But it was also the result of the very typical divide-and-conquer strategy of colonialist powers everywhere. The final couple of chapters that detail the cloud of lies and deceit that swirled around the encampments around Fort Robinson in the days before Crazy Horse's death as whites and various Indian factions maneuvered for advantage is captured in nuanced if depressing detail.

I've read a lot of books about the Plains Wars and I can't remember being as immersed and moved by one since William Vollman's The Dying Grass. If you have any interest in this period and place, this book is a must-have. As Deloria notes, it is a book for "the careful reader who savors the well-written word who can see in this book history as biography and biography as history."… (more)

A “fictional biography” of John Cozad, by Mari Sandoz. Cozad, Nebraska is a little town just north of I80 and right on the 100th meridian. John Cozad was a very successful gambler, who used his winnings to found the town, promote the area, and build a hotel. When the Cozad family ran into trouble with local ranchers, they changed their names and moved away; one son adopted the name “Robert Henri” (pronounced “henRYE” by the locals) and became a famous painter and founder of the “Ashcan School”. Sandoz takes the minimal information known about the Cozads – they spent a good fraction of their lives trying to hide their identity, after all – and spins it into a fascinating historical novel. For a small town, a lot happened in and around this area. Conflict between the neighboring towns of Plum Creek and Cozad is instrumental to the book; events include the Plum Creek Massacre, the Plum Creek Raid, the lynching and burning of settlers Luther Mitchell and A.W. Ketchum by cowboys of the Olive Ranch, and the great locust storm of 1875. (If you go looking for the town of Plum Creek, note that - perhaps because of the notoriety - it’s now Lexington, Nebraska. Cozad is still Cozad). An easy, entertaining, and instructive read.… (more)

This short book packs in so much detail, from the big picture of the political landscape to the hardships the soldiers and their horses & mules faced. As a kid in school, I remember Custer being portrayed as a heroic figure, a victim. Sandoz details his political aspirations to become president and how that tunnel vision led to his discounting reports of enemy numbers and strength, disobeying orders, and splitting his forces so he'd get all the glory in a victory, a move that sent many men to their deaths. He did all the things a good leader would never do.… (more)