The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull

To most white Americans of the mid-19th century, Sitting Bull embodied the hostile native. To the Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux, he was a patriot and a respected political, military and spiritual leader. Utley ( Cavalier in Buckskin ), a former chief historian of the National Park Service, presents a definitive biography of this legendary warrior. Born in 1831 on the great Plains, son of a chief, Sitting Bull was a seasoned warrior by the age of 15; at 26, he was tribal war chief. As the conflicts with the U.S. Army began in the 1850s, Sitting Bull represented the spirit of resistance among his people. Utley follows the increasing hostilities of succeeding years and gives a vivid account of the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. Three years after fleeing to Canada, Sitting Bull returned to the U.S. and reservation life. In 1890, he was shot by Indian police sent to arrest him before his intended departure for a sundance at another reservation. Utley believes that the arrest was unjustified, but that the shooting, which led to the Battle of Wounded Knee a few months later, was not premeditated. Photos. History Book club main selection; BOMC and QPB selections. (June)