Voices of the American West
By: Eli S. Ricker ; edited and with an introduction by Richard E. Jensen
Contributors: Jensen, Richard E
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Lincoln
Language: eng
Subjects: Ricker, Eli Seavey, -- 1843-1926 -- Relations with Indians; Indians of North America -- Historiography; Indians of North America -- Interviews; Pioneers -- United States -- Interviews; European Americans -- Interviews; Indians of North America -- History; Frontier and pioneer life -- United States -- History
Genres: Interviews
Description: Publisher description: The valuable interviews conducted by Nebraska judge Eli S. Ricker with Indian eyewitnesses to the Wounded Knee massacre, the Little Big Horn battle, the Grattan incident, and other events and personages of the Old West are finally made widely available in this long-awaited volume. In the first decade of the twentieth century, as the Old West became increasingly distant and romanticized in popular consciousness, Eli S. Ricker (1843-1926) began interviewing those who had experienced it firsthand, hoping to write a multi-volume series about its last days. Among the many individuals he interviewed were American Indians, mostly Sioux, who spoke extensively about a range of subjects, some with the help of an interpreter. For years Ricker traveled across the northern Plains, determinedly gathering information on and off reservations, in winter and in summer. Judge Ricker never wrote his book, but his interviews are priceless sources of information about the Old West that offer more balanced perspectives on events than were accepted at the time.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and indexes
Table of contents: title: v. 1. The Indian interviews of Eli S. Ricker, 1903-1919; title: v. 2. The settler and soldier interviews of Eli S. Ricker, 1903-1919