Prairie Man: The Struggle between Sitting Bull and Indian Agent James McLaughlin / Edition 1

by Norman E. Matteoni

Overview

One week after the June 1876 Battle of the Little Big Horn, when news of the defeat of Custer and his 7^th Cavalry troops reached the American public, Lakota Chief Sitting Bull became the most wanted hostile Indian in America. He had resisted intrusions into Lakota land for years, refused to sign treaties, and had called for a gathering of tribes at Little Big Horn. He epitomized resistance. But there are other battles than those of war, and the conflict between Sitting Bull and Indian Agent James McLaughlin was one of those battles. Theirs was a fight over the hearts and minds of the Lakota.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442244757
Publisher:	TwoDot
Publication date:	06/16/2015
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Norm Matteoni is a first time author of non-fiction, but a long time student of the American West and the life and times of Sitting Bull. Both a legal scholar and practicing lawyer, he has written extensively in law review articles, appellate briefs and a two volume treatise on the Law of Eminent Domain in California. A biographical sketch can be found on his law firm's website - www.matteoni.com. He also is an amateur photographer; and in 2008 he photographed areas of the northern plains, home of the Lakota.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A compelling and well-researched character study of the struggle between Sitting Bull, arguably the most-vilified Indian leader of his era, and Indian Agent James McLaughlin, in charge of the Standing Rock Reservation where Sitting Bull was eventually killed… Part history, part psychological drama and part murder mystery—this is cinematic storytelling at its best—and a great read… Kerry McCluggage, President – Craftsman Films

Editorial Reviews

06/22/2015
Legal scholar Matteoni tells the sweeping, devastating story of the decline of Sioux power in the latter half of the 19th century. From the 1860s through the 1880s, Sitting Bull, a spiritual Hunkpapa Lakota warrior, fought an increasingly futile battle to preserve his people's way of life. Though the story's flow is often marred by an over-use of block quotes and the unnecessary use of reconstructed dialogue, Matteoni has a knack for describing the various armed confrontations of this time period, particularly the famous 1876 battle of Little Big Horn. The first half of the book belongs to Sitting Bull; his eventual nemesis, James McLaughlin, does not come fully into view until 1881, when he accepted the position of Indian agent at the Standing Rock Agency in the Dakota Territory. Despite being backed by the power of the U.S. government, McLaughlin was overshadowed by Sitting Bull when the warrior arrived at McLaughlin's agency in 1883. There, the two men clashed for more than six years over who had the right to speak for and lead the Sioux. Though McLaughlin ultimately prevailed, Matteoni's book will remind readers why Sitting Bull has become such an important historical figure. Illus. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Prairie Man: The Struggle Between Sitting Bull and the Indian Agent James McLaughlin is a carefully researched and detailed historical scrutiny of a conflict not just between individuals, but also worldviews. After the 1876 Battle of Little Big Horn, the infamous defeat of General George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull was publically vilified for refusing to sign treaties, and personifying resistance to U.S. intrusion upon Lakota lands. Indian Agent James McLaughlin represented the U.S. Government's point of view - the desire to 'kill the Indian and save the man' by forcibly moving native tribes to reservations, dismantling their culture, and transforming them into Christian farmers. The story of the conflict between Sitting Bull and James McLaughlin reflects the stormy history between the U. S. and its native peoples, and is at once both worrying and edifying. Extensive notes and an index round out this welcome addition to public and college library Native American Studies or American History shelves.

Library Bookwatch

Prairie Man: The Struggle Between Sitting Bull and the Indian Agent James McLaughlin is a carefully researched and detailed historical scrutiny of a conflict not just between individuals, but also worldviews.. . .The story of the conflict between Sitting Bull and James McLaughlin reflects the stormy history between the U.S. and its native peoples, and is at once both worrying and edifying. Extensive notes and an index round out this welcome addition to public and college library Native American Studies or American History shelves.

Midwest Book Review

05/15/2015
Lawyer Matteoni presents the parallel lives of Dakota chief Sitting Bull (1831–90) and Indian agent James McLaughlin (1842–1923), two men who would ultimately clash in the Dakota prairie country. The volume begins with the Minnesota River Valley uprisings of the 1860s, documenting the ensuing conflict between the U.S. government and the residents of the Northern Plains. Sitting Bull's life is revealed beyond the context of Gen. Custer's defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn as the author documents Sitting Bull's exodus to Canada, continued resistance to reservation life, metropolitan tours with Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley, and controversial death after McLaughlin ordered his arrest. Matteoni mines McLaughlin's writings, government treaties, and later biographies of Sitting Bull—such as Stanley Vestal's Sitting Bull (1932)—to flesh out the text. The author also utilizes his legal knowledge to provide background to the various treaties broken by the U.S. government, occasionally sprinkling "interpretive quotations" into the text to give voice to the account. At times, the content seems overloaded with redundant detail, but the book achieves an information-rich narrative of latter 19th-century Dakota history. VERDICT An informative debut for those seeking a focused, detailed portrait of Sitting Bull's life and the struggle for dominance of the American Plains.—Jeffrey Meyer, Mt. Pleasant P.L., IA

Library Journal