Customer Reviews

Scalp Dance: Indian Warfare on the High Plains, 1865-1879

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As many of the reviews of this book have stated, this book differs from many other accounts of Indian-white warfare on the Great Plains in that it does not start with an agenda which paints the white settlers/soldiers as thieving invaders and the Indians as noble, oppressed victims. What it is is what it claims to be--a scholarly analysis of contemporaneously written accounts of the conflicts which ranged from the Comanche country in Texas to the Sioux plains in the Dakotas and Montana, with a particular emphasis on the Cheyenne tribe which ranged throughout (and regarding Kansas in particular, which State the author appears to be an authority on). However, since it is based upon contemporaneous writing, it largely is the version of white settlers, survivors, soldiers and newspapermen, and the natural reaction after reading it is to see the Indians as bloodthirsty, brutal savages who raped, tortured and killed. This is fine, because they were, to a certain extent. There is no doubt that these things occurred. But if the book fails, it is in not giving the other side of the story (which would be difficult, becuase none of the tribes involved had a written language at the time). However, considering the subject matter, there are more than enough books which detail the white wrongs--broken treaties, outright theft of land, extermination of Buffalo, poor reservations, corrupt Indian agents, punishment of innocent Indians for the acts of warlike tribesmen, etc. Goodrich is clearly not trying to paint the Indians as monsters, but rather is presenting, in highly readable fashion, the written versions of those who were there--which is inevitably the white version, and it details harrowing accounts of Indian torture, rape and murder. The book is excellent and informative, and is highly recommended. Just make sure you read other books on the subject which take a different (some would say "PC") perspective, like Dee Brown's Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, and then come to your own conclusion, which will be, inevitably, that both sides had justification, right or wrong, for the brutalities each committed, and that what ultimately happened was a sad but inevitable result of a clash of cultures.

The account of the events is vivid and memorable. The emphasis is on the words of those people who experienced life on the Great Plains at the time, both military and private citizens, men and women. The Indians did not write memoirs ordinarily, but their attitude comes through in their recorded encounters with the whites. Also, these days we know much more about how they were treated. Why contemporary whites felt as they did about the Indians is a strong point of this book.

Another fine point of this book is that the author has avoided skewing the story with political correctness. The history is neither "noble savage" nor "the only Indian is a bad Indian." It is a clash of cultures seen by walking in the shoes of contemporaries.

In addition, there is a very informative view of General George Custer and Mrs. Custer, one enhancing our knowledge of his military ability and their humanity. Custer's relationship to the Indians is especially revealing,

This book is equal time. The author gives us a view of history few have courage to even mention these days. The battle for supremacy between the American Indian and the white settlers was bitter clash of cultures. This book declares the facts. Yes, both sides committed terrible inhumane atrocities, but some people made a genuine effort to understand and help the natives they considered savages in spite of the terrible killing. If you are looking for an alternative to the watered down history books you read in school about the Indian wars, this is it. The book contains actual narrative from soldiers and civilians that lived through the battles and encountered the horrible realities of torture, desecration of the dead, rape and kidnapping. And they are surprising lenient toward their enemies. If you're looking for another dry, boring account of the America west, this book is not for you. But if you're looking for something with a twist, read Scalp Dance.

One of the few good things about the 1960s was that, as one set of politically correct attitudes replaced another, there was a brief moment when both were rejected and you got something approximating the truth. In movies like Ulzana's Raid and Duel at Diablo, you got a sense that neither "red man" or "white man" was blameless, that both sides suffered and that what the Indian Wars were about was a clash of civilizations. This made for an honest assessment of the period, an assessment soon lost as the "whites as monsters" ideology replaced the "Indians as monsters" view.

There are very few books, however, which have been able to capture that objectivity. This is the best of them. You get a sense of the irreconcilable views of the two sides. In colorful, exciting but scrupulously accurate prose, the entire period is laid out for the reader. Interestingly, because the author does not tilt his narrative to one side or the other, you get a richer appreciation for the tragedy of that period.

If you read only one book on the Indian Wars, read this one.

If you want to understand the dynamics of the plains indian wars, you MUST read this book. Scalp Dance gives you an up close and personal look at the atrocities and danger that frontier people lived with daily. One of my favorite subjects is the Indian Wars (both in the east and west), but anymore it is virtually impossible -- and I mean IMPOSSIBLE -- to find books that aren't extremely PC and insultingly one-sided. This book is the antidote. Before you cast aspersions on the people involved in these conflicts, read this book, and ask yourself, "What would I do in the same situation?"

The author does an excellent job providing a history of violent contacts between the Plains Indians and whites and between Indians themselves through the use of first hand accounts. What is unique about this format is that the accounts seem to flow freely through the book adding to the story and not detracting from it. The accounts are primarily from whites who were direct witnesses to Indian raids in Colorado, Red Clouds War the Kansas War, The Great Sioux and Cheyene War and the Northern Cheyene's desperate flight back to their homeland. The descriptions discuss not only combat with Indians but the violence extended to victims including gruesome desercations of the victims body, thought to have necessary significance for Indians for an advanatge in the afterlife. The discovery of mutilated bodies understandably created a vengeful lust among friends and family of the deceased. Surprisingly, these accounts include mistreatment of captured women. This seems in sharp contrast to the way northeastern tribes treated prisoners during the mid 18th century where prisoners were used as slaves, barter or assimiliation purposes (see "White Devil" by Stephen Brumwell). The impression the book leaves you is that there was very little of this option with the Plains Indians, which directly speaks to the old proverb "Save the last bullet for yourself". Although the book is primarily from the white perspectives, it does cover the controversial massacre of Sand Creek by Major Chivington as it appears that violence begets violence whether justified or not(The massacre perspective is challenged in "The Battle of Sand Creek: The Military Perspective" by Michael Michno). One thing of note is that General Sheridan was disinclined to trade for white women prisoners if they were held in captivity too long assuming they were no longer fit for society (see "General Sheridan and His Generals" by Paul Hutton). The violent combat is not restricted just between whites and Indians but also between different tribes as one witness observed Crows torturing one of their enemies to death. The book has some balance as Captain Mills from Crooks' army expresses regret for a young Indian child's grief for her deceased mother who was caught in a cross fire at Slim Buttes. It is also noted that whites periodically took scalps (Buffalo Bill) and desecrated Indian graves. Many of the individuals quoted seemed to be very forthright as one scout who survived the siege at Beecher's Island stated that he did not know how many Indians he killed since their attacks were so fast and furious he couldn't follow his shots. The book also highlights the Fetterman Massacre (whites lost), Battle of Washita (some say massacre), Little Big Horn, Rosebud, Slim Buttes and assortment of other campaigns. All in all, the witneses attest to the hard, dangerous and violent life on the edge of the frontier.

I have read many books about Indian wars on the plains. None has the same effect, the same riveting quality, that Scalp Dance has. Rather than an author's version of what happened, this author simply guides us through a chronological trail of bloodshed - narrating where need be, but letting the actual written accounts of those who took part tell the real story. Army men, their wives, settlers, and others tell their tales as they experienced them first hand. I have to say that these first-hand accounts paint a picture more violent, brutal and ruthless than any other book I've read. This is not a watered down version of what happened, or someone's interpretation. This is real. Indian wars have been glorified so much after all these years. It's good, though disturbing, to be reminded that the participants were not always the noble beings we've been imagining. It's hard to picture a culture so vicious in these modern days. Scalp Dance tells it like it was using the accounts of those that survived.

This book is one of the best ever written on the Plains Wars, and it shows the great stupidity of the idea that between the Civil War and Spanish-American War American soldiers were at peace. Nothing could have been further from the truth. "Scalp Dance" shows the gory, harrowing battles waged by handfuls of ill-equipped soldiers against some of the most vicious opponents America has ever faced. Usually outnumbered and sometimes even despised by some of their own countrymen, these troops were the men who made the settling of the West a fact. Until now, their story and their sacrifices have been largely forgotten thanks to mountains of PC rhetoric. Now "Scalp Dance" has rectified that. Those who loved the movie "Dances With Wolves" should read this book of FACTUAL accounts of the Plains Wars for a no-holds-barred history lesson. "Scalp Dance" is bloody, suspenseful book that is all the more relevant because it's actual history.

This is a fine and thoughtful book, somewhat out of sync with the silly expugation of Indian war customs that has become common today. Much food for thought can be found here on troubling aspects of human nature. The book's almost ruthless honesty can become oppressive now and then, but there is so much interesting information that it often compels reading.

Anyone who has bought into the PC rubbish promoting the Indians of the Great Plains as being some sort of "Noble Red Aristocrats" really ought to awaken themselves out of their media induced stupor and read this book post haste! The only thing lacking in this work are details about what the tribes did to one another. That is to say, the butchery, mutilation, torture, and sadism the Indians routinely used on the migrating settlers was the norm for tribe-vs-tribe conflicts long BEFORE White people arrived in the geographic area. Without this important point being raised the book is liable to give the PC flunkies fuel for their ever-growing fire of complaints connected to how accounts of Indian atrocities are slanted and one-sided. The FACT is, the tribes of the plains practiced the same savagry against one another as they did against Euro settlers. It was a matter of routine for them all and their so-called "cultures" were built around destroying others in the most ghastly manner possible. Other than this shortcoming, this book shines over ALL other works targeting the same historic/cultural clash. READ IT!



I see there is another reviewer here who feels this book is "fine", but recommends that you consider "the other side" in terms of the "wrongs" of broken treaties, aggressions by Whites against Indians, etc. He offers "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" by pseudo-historian Dee Brown, as a means to do this. Well, Dee Brown's book is simply fantasy (one ounce of fact disolved in gallons of hogwash). In it, Mr. Brown seems to attempt to lead the reader to the bizarre conclusion that the Indians of the western frontier were some sort of high-minded, innocent, unassuming folk who suffered greatly at the hands of unreasonable European invaders. In "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee", you'll find lots of photographs of Indians chiefs - studio portraits featuring ceremonial finery worn by individual Indians, each of whom had been carefully posed for the camera, and each with a noble and calm expression on his face. You'll also find lots of details of warfare with Whites SUPPOSEDLY given by the Indians themselves. To read Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" with an uncritical and unthinking mind is to buy into information that seems to suggest that Brown somehow obtained first-hand accounts and information from Indians long dead, in the way a reporter goes out and interviews people about some news event.



This is why SCALP DANCE is so accurate and Brown's work in "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" is merely highly slanted and biased PC rubbish. The author of SCALP DANCE does not provide slanted and incomplete "stories" as does Brown. He provides documentated evidence. Furthermore, if you want to read about broken treaties and who broke them more often than not, read LIFE AMONG THE APACHES, THREE YEARS AMONG THE COMANCHES, and THE TRUTH ABOUT GERONIMO. All are available right here at amazon.com Each of these thoroughly backs up the information found in SCALP DANCE, and all blow Dee Brown's suspect and contrived material to bits in terms of credibility.



As mentioned earlier in this review, SCALP DANCE does not mention inter-tribal conflicts which contained all the sadistic, brutal, and inhuman outrages that White/Indian conflicts did. To give you some quick examples I ask that you consider the Comanche/Apache conflict. The Comanche (a Uto-Aztecan linguistic group of Shoshone) had migrated into what is now Montana from somewhere in Mexico. They existed within this northern plains environment for a few generations until they were relentlessly attacked, slaughtered, and driven south again by the Absaroke (Crow) and the Blackfoot. Because of this southern escape from the Crow and Blackfoot, the Comanche ended up running into the large and wide-spread Apache tribes which were then living on the southern plains of what became Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and a portion of Northen Mexico. The Comanche literally slaughtered and destroyed the Apache, reducing the numbers of some Apache tribes to mere fragments of what they had been while totally exterminating other Apache tribes all together. It was due to this lethal onslaught that the Apache had to re-settle in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico, southeastern Arizona, and northen Mexico. The Comanche took control of the region of the southern plains and made a routine of keeping and selling Apache, Osage, Cheyenne, and Arapaho slaves. The Comanche also had diabolical methods of torturing these enemies to death for sport in their villages. Equally, the Kiowa were destroyed by the Sioux, who had pushed south from the forests of eastern Canada after the French & Indian war and poured onto the plains of present-day Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Wyoming. The Crow and Pawnee were also targeted for EXTERMINATION by these same teeming masses of Sioux. This sort of uncompromising aggressive activity complete with all manner of torture, mutilation, butchery, and general savagery was the norm between Indian tribes of the west. And this is extremely important to keep in mind when considering books like "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" and SCALP DANCE in terms of credibility. It is a matter of historic record that there NEVER WERE any set and distinct "LANDS" which were recognized as "homelands" or "ranges" by any of these tribal groups - except to the degree that each knew where the other tribes were at any given time and therefore kept out of those areas to save life and limb. It logically follows then that it is folly to believe that any kind of a wild Indian (regardless of tribe) would (or even could) feel that he had a stable and distinct "homeland" in which he would reside constantly. It also folly to believe that any wild Indian could comprehend a Territorial Treaty in the classic sense of what Territorial Treaties were in frontier times, and then have the sense to stick to it without being FORCED to do so.

It is simply a matter of historic record that wild frontier Indians were constantly testing reservation borders, casually over-stepping agreements, and simply ignoring promises. The Kiowa and Southern Cheyenne (as detailed in SCALP DANCE ) would sit on reservation lands each winter, well fed and supplied by the Federal Govenment, and then take the warpath each spring and summer, destroying and killing Whites all across Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Colorado! Actually, reservations became perfect places for rest, relaxation, and easy food during winter months for most of the hostile tribes - places where they would be safe from the hostilities of OTHER TRIBES and where they could launch their summer wars and outrages from.



And that's another point which backs up SCALP DANCE and blows gaping holes in Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". There was constant Indian vs Indian warfare (including the slaughter of Indian women and children by Indians of different tribes) going on WHILE the plains tribes were in the process of making peace treaties with Europeans! These Indians never existed in peace and tranquillity with one another before the arrival of civilizing Europeans, and during the settlement of the western frontier many tribes ( Pawnee, Crow, Apache, Tarahumara, etc.)were absolutely delighted to fight FOR Whites in wars against their Red cousins! It was only at the very end of the settlement of the west that certain natural enemies such as the Sioux and Cheyenne or the Kiowa and Comanche joined forces in last-ditch attempts to continue their wild ways in the face of growing civilization. So the notion of a constant series of events where wild Indians were trying desperately to adhere to treaties while Whites repeatedly broke them does not stand up to the historic record of either White/Indian conflict in general or the logic spelled out by Indian vsIndian conflict and migration prior to and during the period of White settlement.



A book like SCALP DANCE details a good deal of the hostilities between Whites and Indians on the frontier of the high plains accurately, but Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" omits significant details connected to the stuggles - omits them utterly. The "other side" notion that one reviewer here suggests considering has never existed in reality. It has been spattered out over the unknowledgeable public directly from the feverish imaginations of pseudo-historians such as Dee Brown and Vine Deloria, as well as from Leftist "Documentary" producers with intellectual pretensions, and by Hollywood. To prove this point, I again offer other books which back up the well-researched information in SCALP DANCE. All are equally as good and as interesting as SCALP DANCE is, and all are available right here at amazon.com These are: THREE YEARS AMONG THE COMANCHES, LIFE AMONG THE APACHES, and THE TRUTH ABOUT GERONIMO.



Read all these excellent books, and THEN go and purchase "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". You'll imediately see what I mean about false, grotesque, "Fiction-as-Fact" information being passed off as the view from the "other side" of the White/Indian frontier conflicts.