Post by Californian on Nov 1, 2020 17:21:31 GMT -5
Sitting Bull. The Years in Canada. By Grant McEwan, Hurtig Publishers, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 1973, hardcover, octavo format, 221p.
For many years citizens of both Canada and United States were satisfied to think of the Sioux chief, Sitting Bull, as a treacherous savage, a menace to the white man's design for the development of the country. Newspaper reports made him the most notorious figure on the western frontier. After the Custer affair of 1876 - for which he was held responsible - his reputation was for massacre and murder. But why the Canadian interest in Sitting Bull? He became a symbol of the conflict between the hordes of greedy newcomers and the frustrated native defenders. Author MacEwan has certainly told a good story in this book, although it is not necessarily good history. The first third of the book consists of much that is familiar, including early Sioux history, the Sioux uprising in Minnesota during the Civil War, the founding of the North West Mounted Police, and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. What follows is a series of dramatic vignettes in which the Sioux are pitted against the Mounted Police under Major James M. Walsh. The scene is the Cypress Hills and Wood Mountain area of southern Saskatchewan. Since the Sioux rejected terms of surrender offered by an American Commission at a meeting at Fort Walsh in October 1877, Sitting Bull threatened to become a permanent resident. Until he finally left with the last of his followers in July 1881, the Mounted Police had their hands full dealing with horse stealing, friction between the Sioux and Canadian tribes, threats of a general Indian uprising, starvation caused by the disappearance of the buffalo, and raids by the Sioux and Canadian Indians into the United States. In an effort to dramatize each incident that he describes, MacEwan takes liberties with the available evidence or uses his sources uncritically. Some of the secondary sources on which he depends, especially for the earlier chapters, are old and unreliable. Primary materials used include the Canadian Sessional Papers, newspapers, and the James M. Walsh Papers. MacEwan relies heavily on a memoir written by Walsh in I89O that was obviously intended to enhance Walsh's own reputation in handling Sitting Bull. The accuracy of Walsh's memory of details and conversations after so many years had elapsed is also questionable. MacEwan does not hesitate to make sharp judgments about the character and motivation of individuals. These judgments maybe plausible, but often they cannot be documented. With its abundance of adjectives and similes, MacEwan's prose contributes to the black and white nature of his conclusions. However, his knowledge of the geography of the Wood Mountain area is an asset in describing the movements of the Sioux, and the reader is further assisted by easy-to-follow maps on the inside covers. Despite its weaknesses and numerous inaccuracies, this book will probably enjoy a wide readership amongst popular history buffs. [courtesy of Gary Pennanen, University of Toronto Press, The Canadian Historical Review, Volume 56, Number 2, June 1975 pp. 203-204]
about the author:
John Walter Grant MacEwan, best known as Grant MacEwan (August 12, 1902 – June 15, 2000) was a farmer, Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Dean of Agriculture at the University of Manitoba, the 28th Mayor of Calgary and both a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Canada.
MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta and the MacEwan Student Centre at the University of Calgary as well as the neighborhoods of MacEwan Glen in Calgary and MacEwan in Edmonton are named after him.
For many years citizens of both Canada and United States were satisfied to think of the Sioux chief, Sitting Bull, as a treacherous savage, a menace to the white man's design for the development of the country. Newspaper reports made him the most notorious figure on the western frontier. After the Custer affair of 1876 - for which he was held responsible - his reputation was for massacre and murder. But why the Canadian interest in Sitting Bull? He became a symbol of the conflict between the hordes of greedy newcomers and the frustrated native defenders. Author MacEwan has certainly told a good story in this book, although it is not necessarily good history. The first third of the book consists of much that is familiar, including early Sioux history, the Sioux uprising in Minnesota during the Civil War, the founding of the North West Mounted Police, and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. What follows is a series of dramatic vignettes in which the Sioux are pitted against the Mounted Police under Major James M. Walsh. The scene is the Cypress Hills and Wood Mountain area of southern Saskatchewan. Since the Sioux rejected terms of surrender offered by an American Commission at a meeting at Fort Walsh in October 1877, Sitting Bull threatened to become a permanent resident. Until he finally left with the last of his followers in July 1881, the Mounted Police had their hands full dealing with horse stealing, friction between the Sioux and Canadian tribes, threats of a general Indian uprising, starvation caused by the disappearance of the buffalo, and raids by the Sioux and Canadian Indians into the United States. In an effort to dramatize each incident that he describes, MacEwan takes liberties with the available evidence or uses his sources uncritically. Some of the secondary sources on which he depends, especially for the earlier chapters, are old and unreliable. Primary materials used include the Canadian Sessional Papers, newspapers, and the James M. Walsh Papers. MacEwan relies heavily on a memoir written by Walsh in I89O that was obviously intended to enhance Walsh's own reputation in handling Sitting Bull. The accuracy of Walsh's memory of details and conversations after so many years had elapsed is also questionable. MacEwan does not hesitate to make sharp judgments about the character and motivation of individuals. These judgments maybe plausible, but often they cannot be documented. With its abundance of adjectives and similes, MacEwan's prose contributes to the black and white nature of his conclusions. However, his knowledge of the geography of the Wood Mountain area is an asset in describing the movements of the Sioux, and the reader is further assisted by easy-to-follow maps on the inside covers. Despite its weaknesses and numerous inaccuracies, this book will probably enjoy a wide readership amongst popular history buffs. [courtesy of Gary Pennanen, University of Toronto Press, The Canadian Historical Review, Volume 56, Number 2, June 1975 pp. 203-204]
about the author:
John Walter Grant MacEwan, best known as Grant MacEwan (August 12, 1902 – June 15, 2000) was a farmer, Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Dean of Agriculture at the University of Manitoba, the 28th Mayor of Calgary and both a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Canada.
MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta and the MacEwan Student Centre at the University of Calgary as well as the neighborhoods of MacEwan Glen in Calgary and MacEwan in Edmonton are named after him.