April Not Fiction Book Discussions

The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin illustrates the idea that, as the authors state in their Notes and Bibliography, " . . . history is fable agreed on." We think we know a story. In the old Westerns, the good guys defeated the bad guys, cowboys defeated the Indians. Then, in the last few decades, historians reconsidered the story, the bad guys defeated the good guys, cowboys defeated the Indians. And then a book like this complicates the story. Who are the good guys, and who are the bad guys? Who defeated whom? And for what purpose? Did their ends justify their means?

Drury and Clavin tell the story of Red Cloud, the Oglala Sioux warrior who was the only warrior in the 300-year-long war between Euro-Americans and Native Americans to defeat the United States government and force it to sue for peace on his terms--even though the U. S. eventually won the war. It is often said that the victor gets to tell the story, so that is at least part of the reason Red Cloud's had been largely forgotten. Drury and Clavin draw upon Red Cloud's own autobiography, along with other primary documents, to bring it back to common knowledge. But it is also a complicated story full of violence on all sides, and lies and trickery, especially on the part of the United States government. Red Cloud emerges as a brutal warrior and shrewd political strategist fighting to preserve the Plains Indians' way of life. Drury and Clavin point out that the relentless advance of white settlement for land, buffalo hides, and gold along the pioneer trails and rail lines would turn out to be more effective than any act of war on the part of the United States government at defeating the Indians, a fact that Red Cloud admitted on his first visit to Washington in 1870. As he told Secretary of the Interior Joseph P. Cox, "Now we are melting like snow on the hillside, while you are growing like spring grass." When asked why the United States fought Red Cloud, General Bisbee replied, "My only answer could be we did it for Civilization."

What do you think? What is your interpretation of Bisbee's answer? Do you think this is what most of the United States' soldiers and citizens believed? What kind of place would the United States be now if we had learned to accept different interpretations of the word "civilized"? And what do you think of Red Cloud? How did his childhood determine the man and leader he grew up to be? Do you feel Drury and Clavin's portrayal of Red Cloud and his cause was fair and impartial? Did you find that you were sympathetic to Red Cloud and the Sioux, or was it difficult for you to reconcile the brutality of the Indian battle ethic with the justness of their cause? And finally, although Drury and Clavin drew upon primary sources to write this book, we see how various participants in the events depicted strove to portray their involvement in the best possible light while blaming and even demonizing others. Given that human error and emotion play a large part in how we recall and record events, how accurate do you feel our understanding of any historical event can be?

We hope you will join the discussion: Tuesday, April 7, at 6:30 p.m. at Main Library; Thursday, April 23, at 11:00 a.m. at West Ashley Branch Library; and here on the blog.