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On the Border with Crook

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The concept of Manifest Destiny took root during the Mexican American War, and assumed grander proportions following the Civil War. Gen. Crook had been a calvery officer whose services proved to be of considerable value, as much for his ability as for his compassion for the Indians. His job was to protect the settlers and subdue the Indians by locating them on reservations. The author was with Crook during his first and second Southwest campaigns as well as that of the Northern Plains. His love for his commander and appreciation of the Indians made him the perfect writer for the topic. Gen. Crook seems the ideal officer for the job, but was defeated, not by the Indians but Agents assigned, after the army had done its work, to reservations by Washington. The book is a wonderful description of the duty performed by Gen. Crook who, had his system been utilized, would have led to a better life for all. In the end, Bourke feels, Crook died of a broken heart. Important history, and a story too beautifully told to miss.

John Bourke writes wonderfully of General George Crook, a legendary Indian fighter in post-Civil War Arizona, Wyoming, and Montanna. Bourke, who for most of the time was Crook's aide-de-camp, is an unabashed admirer of the General, but the book goes far beyond flattery and sycophancy. Bourke makes the reader admire Crook as much as he himself does, for Crook truly did possess unmatched stamina, experience, attention to detail and equal measures of sympathy for the Indians he was fighting and ruthlessness in his ambition to drive them onto the reservations. Bourke too admires the Indians, especially the Apaches. In fact, one of the book's high points is its almost anthropological descriptions of Apache life, the Arizona landscape, life in the frontier Army, and the social milieu of old Tuscon. The descriptions of Crook's campaigns against the Sioux and Cheyenne flag just a little, but only in comparison to Bourke's own rapturous discussions of life in the Southwest. The book that this compares best to is Eugene Ware's "The Indian War of 1864" (which I've also reviewed for Amazon). Ware, like Bourke, was a serving Army officer with a keen, sympathetic eye for all he saw in the old West. Both were involved in more hair-raising episodes than a dozen Hollywood action heroes combined. I too am a serving Army officer, and I can testify that none of my peers today has seen as much or writes so well.

John Bourke writes wonderfully of General George Crook, a legendary Indian fighter in post-Civil War Arizona, Wyoming, and Montanna. Bourke, who for most of the time was Crook's aide-de-camp, is an unabashed admirer of the General, but the book goes far beyond flattery and sycophancy. Bourke makes the reader admire Crook as much as he himself does, for Crook truly did possess unmatched stamina, experience, attention to detail and equal measures of sympathy for the Indians he was fighting and ruthlessness in his ambition to drive them onto the reservations. Bourke too admires the Indians, especially the Apaches. In fact, one of the book's high points is its almost anthropological descriptions of Apache life, the Arizona landscape, life in the frontier Army, and the social milieu of old Tuscon. The descriptions of Crook's campaigns against the Sioux and Cheyenne flag just a little, but only in comparison to Bourke's own rapturous discussions of life in the Southwest. The book that this compares best to is Eugene Ware's "The Indian War of 1864" (which I've also reviewed for Amazon). Ware, like Bourke, was a serving Army officer with a keen, sympathetic eye for all he saw in the old West. Both were involved in more hair-raising episodes than a dozen Hollywood action heroes combined. I too am a serving Army officer, and I can testify that none of my peers today has seen as much or writes so well.

As most know, ON THE BORDER WITH CROOK (hereafter OTBWC), was written by Captain Bourke during the year 1890, for when he left the Southwest in 1886 he had more than enough written pages of diary and notes to fill several books.

There are several reasons behind the writing of this book, but with General Crook recent death, one of Captain Bourke's desires for the book was to keep the harsh "government treatment of the Chiricahuas..." "... before the public." This is not only a mark of both General Crook and Captain Bourke's humanity, and an outward demonstration Bourke's singularity of feeling with his old commander, but it equally shows his ethnology interests but sense of fair play that ran through both General Crook and Captain Bourke.

After the book was finished, the manuscript was mailed to C. Scribner's and Sons on 7 March 1891, with Scribner's comment "the whole book so far promises all you could hope for it." Working on the manuscript continued through the summer, with the book seeing print in November, 1891. Bourke had by that time been transfered to Texas, and he had some feeling that both Generals Schofield and Miles wanted him removed from the big city acclaim for the book. If there is any truth to that, their efforts failed, as the book immediately became and remains to this day, a true classic. With one author stating that OTBWC was probably Bourke's greatest literary success.

With Captain Bourke having seen service in the Civil War (Medal of Honor receipient), graduate of West Point, service in the 3rd cavalry, and staff officer to General Crook from 1870-1886, OTBWC was much more than just a book about Indian fighting, it encompassed the entire Indian War activity of frontier post and field, fellow officers and soldiers in general, recaptured memories of landscapes, and among others, Indians such as Sitting Bull (Tatanka-Iyotanka), Crazy Horse (Ta Sunke Witko), and Geronimo (Gothalay).

Two of the most helpful books concerning the study of either Bourke or Crook are recent ones: PAPER MEDICINE MAN by Joseph C. Porter, and GENERAL CROOK AND THE WESTERN FRONTIER by Charles M. Robinson III, with both books published by the University of Oklahoma Press: Norman.

Combine these books with the recent issuing in print by Mr. Robinson of Captain Bourke's diaries, the daily army life experienced by Crook and Bourke the years 1870-1886 to life as never before.

Semper Fi.

If you're a serious student of the American Indian Wars, chances are you've read "On the Border with Crook". It has long been regarded as one of the best first hand accounts of frontier army life, and the conflicts of the American West after the Civil War. Of course, what sets Bourke's work aside is the even handed treatment he gives to soldier and Native American alike. This element alone makes Bourke's record of events a challenge to popular beliefs, then and now. It is a highly readable book, even for the novice, and goes beyond General Crook; covering such topics as the flora and fauna of the Southwest, impressions on the forts and communities of Arizona Territory and the people who lived there, the hardships of Frontier service, as well as exciting and honest accounts of combat. If you're lucky enough to have this in your collection, you'll hang onto it for years to come.

The order arrived promptly in a timley manner and in the condition described. I am completely satisfied with the book and the vendor.

This is one of the best Counter Insurgency books ever written and still can be applied today on the battlefield. I use this as a teaching point here in Afghanistan and every commander should have this in his library. Its funny how a book that is written about events over 140 years ago still is sound logic for today's warriors.

An amazing book! A historical chronicle that reads like a novel, written by a man who was a thinking man's soldier, scientist, and anthropologist. A must read for those who are interested in the Western frontier of America and want to get an authentic feel for what it felt like to be a part of the happenings there. As aide-de-camp to Crook as well as a good friend Bourke takes you into the world of a General who life was full of complexities and controversy and a man who was highly regarded as the soldier's soldier.