Autobiography of Red Cloud: War Leader of the Oglalas
The first biography in many years of Sioux chief Red Cloud was Robert Larson's Red Cloud (LJ 4/1/97). Now comes Red Cloud's autobiography. Editor Paul, the historian of the Nebraska State Historical Society, recounts the strange twists of fate that overtook this document. In 1893, Red Cloud was encouraged to give an account of his life, which was then recorded by others. The manuscript was given to Addison Sheldon, then director of the Nebraska State Historical Society, who did nothing with it except have it copied in 1932 by his assistant, Mari Sandoz. Because of its obscure background, its ending in the early 1860s, and the negative images of Red Cloud (Sandoz, for instance, cast him as a villain in her Crazy Horse, published in 1942), the manuscript continued to languish. The autobiography is an exciting glimpse of the life of the Plains Indians before their defeat and removal to reservation life. Worthy reading for both scholarly and lay readers.?Charles V. Cowling, Drake Memorial Lib., Brockport, N.Y.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.