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John Gregory Bourke kept a monumental set of diaries beginning as a young cavalry lieutenant in Arizona in 1872, and ending the evening before his death in 1896. As aide-de-camp to Brigadier General George Crook, he had an insider's view of the early Apache campaigns, the Great Sioux War, the Cheyenne Outbreak, and the Geronimo War. Bourke's writings reveal much about military life on the western frontier, but he also was a noted ethnologist, writing extensive descriptions of American Indian civilization and illustrating his diaries with sketches and photographs. Previously, researchers could consult only a small part of Bourkes diary material in various publications, or else take a research trip to the archive and microfilm housed at West Point. Now, for the first time, the 124 manuscript volumes of the Bourke diaries are being compiled, edited, and annotated by Charles M. Robinson III, in a planned set of six books easily accessible to the modern researcher. This volume opens as Crook prepares for the expedition that would lead to his infamous and devastating Horse Meat March. Although Bourke retains his loyalty to Crook throughout the detailed account, his patience is sorely tried at times. Bourke's description of the march is balanced by an appendix containing letters and reports by other officers, including an overview of the entire expedition by Lt. Walter Schuyler, and a report by Surgeon Bennett Clements describing the effects on the men. The diary continues with the story of the Powder River Expedition, culminating in Bourke’s eyewitness description of Col. Ranald Mackenzie's destruction of the main Cheyenne camp in what became known at the Dull Knife Fight. With the main hostile chiefs either surrendering or forced into exile in Canada, field operations come to a close, and Bourke finishes this volume with a retrospective of his service in Tucson, Arizona. Extensively annotated and with a biographical appendix on Indians, civilians, and military personnel named in the diaries, this book will appeal to western and military historians, students of American Indian life and culture, and to anyone interested in the development of the American West.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Front Matter
  2. pp. i-vi
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  1. Contents
  2. p. vii
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. viii-ix
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  1. Introduction to Volume 2
  2. pp. 1-10
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  1. Part 1. The Great Sioux War: (Continued from Vol. 1)
  1. Background
  2. pp. 13-20
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  1. Chapter 1. Camp Life
  2. pp. 21-43
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  1. Chapter 2. Linking with Terry
  2. pp. 44-66
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  1. Chapter 3. On the Yellowstone
  2. pp. 67-85
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  1. Chapter 4. The Ordeal Begins
  2. pp. 86-104
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  1. Chapter 5. Fighting and Starving
  2. pp. 105-120
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  1. Chapter 6. The Campaign Ends
  2. pp. 121-148
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  1. Chapter 7. The Powder River Expedition
  2. pp. 149-163
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  1. Chapter 8. Forging Indian Alliances
  2. pp. 164-178
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  1. Chapter 9. The Dull Knife Fight
  2. pp. 179-200
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  1. Chapter 10. Grouard and Bourke on Indians
  2. pp. 201-220
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  1. Chapter 11. Belle Fourche to Fort Fetterman
  2. pp. 221-239
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  1. Chapter 12. The Hostile Bands Surrender
  2. pp. 240-264
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  1. Chapter 13. The Indians Speak
  2. pp. 265-293
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  1. Chapter 14. Crazy Horse
  2. pp. 294-301
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  1. Images
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  1. Part 2. Staff Officer
  1. Background
  2. pp. 305-310
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  1. Chapter 15. A Hunting Trip
  2. pp. 311-329
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  1. Chapter 16. The Little Bighorn Battlefield
  2. pp. 330-343
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  1. Chapter 17. Downriver By Steamer
  2. pp. 344-354
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  1. Chapter 18. Of Indians, Missionaries, and Irishmen
  2. pp. 355-371
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  1. Chapter 19. Memories of Old Tucson
  2. pp. 372-385
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  1. Appendix 1. Persons Mentioned in the Diary
  2. pp. 387-463
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  1. Appendix 2. Soldiers’ Perspectives on the Horse Meat March
  2. pp. 464-481
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  1. Appendix 3. [Clipping in Volume 12, Pages 1292–94] Conflicting Policies
  2. pp. 482-486
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  1. Appendix 4. Crook’s Animal Losses
  2. pp. 487-488
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  1. Appendix 5. Lieutenant W. Philo Clark’s Recapitulation of the Great Sioux War
  2. pp. 489-498
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  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 499-506
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 507-530
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