The Earth is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West

572 Pages·2016·49.79 MB·English

by  Peter Cozzens

ALSO BY PETER COZZENS
Battlefields of the Civil War
Shenandoah 1862: Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign
The Army and the Indian. vol. 5 of Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, 1865–1890
The Long War for the Northern Plains. vol. 4 of Eyewitnesses to the Indian
Wars, 1865–1890
Conquering the Southern Plains. vol. 3 of Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars,
1865–1890
The Wars for the Pacific Northwest. vol. 2 of Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars,
1865–1890
The Struggle for Apacheria. vol. 1 of Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, 1865–
1890
The New Annals of the Civil War (editor, with Robert I. Girardi) Battles and
Leaders of the Civil War, Volume 6 (editor) Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,
Volume 5 (editor) General John Pope: A Life for the Nation
The Military Memoirs of General John Pope (editor, with Robert I. Girardi) The
Darkest Days of the War: The Battles of Iuka and Corinth
The Shipwreck of Their Hopes: The Battles for Chattanooga
This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga
No Better Place to Die: The Battle of Stones River

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Copyright © 2016 by Peter Cozzens All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York,
and distributed in Canada by Random House of Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Limited,
Toronto.
www.aaknopf.com
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Cozzens, Peter, [date] author.
Title: The earth is weeping : the epic story of the Indian wars for the American West / by Peter Cozzens.
Description: First edition. | New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2016. | “This is a Borzoi Book.” | Includes
bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015044077 | ISBN 9780307958044 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780307958051 (ebook) Subjects:
LCSH: Indians of North America—Wars—1866–1895. | West (U.S.)—History—1860–1890.
Classification: LCC E83.866 .C69 2016 | DDC 978/.02—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/
2015044077
Ebook ISBN 9780307958051
Maps by Mapping Specialists, Ltd.
Cover art: The March of the Sioux by Edward S. Curtis. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C.
Cover design by Stephanie Ross
v4.1
a
For Antonia
If the lands of the white man are taken, civilization justifies him in
resisting the invader. Civilization does more than this: it brands him
a coward and a slave if he submits to the wrong. If the savage
resists, civilization, with the Ten Commandments in one hand and
the sword in the other, demands his immediate extermination.
—Report of the Indian Peace Commissioners, 18681
I remember that the white men were coming to fight us and take
away our land, and I thought it was not right. We are humans too
and God created us all alike, and I was going to do the best I could
to defend my nation. So I started on the warpath when I was sixteen
years old.
—FIRE THUNDER, CHEYENNE WARRIOR2
We have heard much talk of the treachery of the Indian. In
treachery, broken pledges on the part of high officials, lies, thievery,
slaughter of defenseless women and children, and every crime in
the catalogue of man’s inhumanity to man the Indian was a mere
amateur compared to the “noble white man.”
—LIEUTENANT BRITTON DAVIS, U.S. ARMY3
CONTENTS
Cover
Also by Peter Cozzens
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
List of Maps
Chronology
PROLOGUE Our Children Sometimes Behave Badly
PART ONE
CHAPTER 1 The Plains Aflame
CHAPTER 2 Red Cloud’s War
CHAPTER 3 Warrior and Soldier
CHAPTER 4 Hancock’s War
CHAPTER 5 The Last Treaty
CHAPTER 6 Of Garryowen in Glory
CHAPTER 7 The Bloody Policy of Peace
PART TWO
CHAPTER 8 Tragedy in the Lava Beds
CHAPTER 9 The Buffalo War
CHAPTER 10 No Rest, No Peace
CHAPTER 11 Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse
CHAPTER 12 The Thieves’ Road
CHAPTER 13 Guard Us Against All Misfortune
CHAPTER 14 Last Stand
CHAPTER 15 The Great Father’s Fury
CHAPTER 16 A Warrior I Have Been
PART THREE
CHAPTER 17 I Will Fight No More Forever
CHAPTER 18 The Utes Must Go!
CHAPTER 19 Return to Apacheria
CHAPTER 20 Like So Many Vultures, Greedy for Blood
CHAPTER 21 Once I Moved Like the Wind
PART FOUR
CHAPTER 22 A Clash of Visions
CHAPTER 23 The Place of the Big Killings
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Illustration Credits
A Note About the Author
Illustrations
MAPS
1. Tribes of the American West, 1866
2. The Northern Plains
3. The Southern Plains
4. Apacheria
5. Red Cloud’s War, 1866–1868
6. Sheridan’s 1868–1869 Campaign 7. The Modoc War, 1872–1873
8. The Red River War, 1874–1875
9. Crook’s Tonto Basin Campaign, 1872–1873
10. The Yellowstone and Black Hills Expeditions, 1873–1874
11. The Little Bighorn Campaign, May–June 1876
12. The Battle of the Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876
13. Closing Out the Great Sioux War, July 1876–May 1877
14. The Cheyennes, November 1876–January 1879
15. The Nez Perce War, 1877
16. The Ute War, 1879
17. The Sierra Madre, 1883–1886
18. Lakota Reservations and Army Deployment, November–December 1890
19. Wounded Knee, December 29, 1890