The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull

by Robert M. Utley

Chronicles the life of the famous warrior, Sitting Bull, correcting many common misconceptions about the legendary native American. By the author of The Last Days of the Sioux. 35,000 first printing. $35,000 ad/promo. History Bk Club Main. BOMC. QPB.

Genres: History, Biography, Native American, Nonfiction, American History, Native Americans, Indigenous

413 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

A specialist in Native American history and the history of the American West, Robert Marshall Utley was a former chief historian of the National Park Service. He earned a Bachelor of Science in history from Purdue University in 1951, and an Master of Arts in history from Indiana University in 1952. Utley served as Regional Historian of the Southwest Region of the NPS in Santa Fe from 1957 to 1964, and as Chief Historian in Washington, D.C. from 1964 until his retirement in 1980.

Reviews

[Jim]

An excellent biography of the great Lakota leader Sitting Bull written by Robert Utley, former National Parks historian and author of many books about the West. I knew a lot about the Lakota/Sioux and especially about their great victory over Custer at the Little Bighorn. But I had never read a biography of Sitting Bull and this one seems definitive to me.
Sitting Bull was born around 1831 in the tribe of the Hunkpapas, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota. These people occupied the great buffalo-rich high plains and their life was centered on the buffalo. As we follow Sitting Bull's growth into manhood, becoming one of the great warriors of his people, we learn about the society and religion of the Hunkpapa.
Sitting Bull became a great spiritual leader of his people as well as a warrior. He had a vision of the bluecoat soldiers falling into the Lakota camps--and that's what happened on June 25, 1876, as Custer was destroyed by the Lakota and their Northern Cheyenne allies. Unfortunately, Sitting Bull believed that the great victory of his people would bring peace to the high plains but that was not to be. The rout of the 7th Cavalry only made the US government more determined to crush the "Indians" and force them to live on the reservation. In the following year, the Lakota were defeated and on the run. Sitting Bull with some of his followers went to Canada to escape the vengeance of the bluecoats.
I didn't know much about Sitting Bull's stay in Canada. That was interesting. However, he and other Lakota were unable to stay there and returned to the United States. It was also interesting to read about his life on "the Great Sioux Reservation" in Dakota Territory and how he tried to maintain his leadership of a defeated and dispirited people. I think it's fairly well-known about Sitting Bull that he joined "Buffalo Bill" Cody's Wild West Show. The two men became friends.
On the reservation, Sitting Bull was seen by the whites as a man who was a "troublemaker," determined to keep to the old ways. Actually, Sitting Bull became interested in farming and supported education for the children. But he held fast to his spiritual beliefs and did not become a Christian. Then, in 1890, there was word of a Messiah for the "Indian" people. A Paiute holy man, Wovoka, had a message for all Native Americans. He prescribed "the Ghost Dance" as a way to remove the whites from America and have all the game, especially the buffalo--and, in fact, all the richness of nature that the Indians had known before the coming of the whites-- return. As the Ghost Dance gained a following among a desperate people, white authorities feared a resumption of war. While Sitting Bull was not a supporter of the Ghost Dance, he did not oppose it either. It was decided to arrest Bull and imprison him rather than risk having the Lakota leader become involved with the new religious movement. Sitting Bull was killed by Indian police sent to arrest him at his cabin. A fight broke out between the police and some of Bull's followers and a policeman's shot killed Sitting Bull. A few weeks later, a group of Lakota who left the reservation were slaughtered at Wounded Knee. The Indian Wars were over.

[Lynny]

The most comprehensive and thoroughly researched book about Sitting Bull out there. If you want to know the real story about this great leader, read this book!

[Bill]

If you love stories of the Indian experience this is excellent. Sad and informative read. I have a hard copy that is destined for a library. Any one want it?

[Christy Hall]

Sitting Bull: The Life and Times of an American Patriot by Robert Utley is the first biography of Sitting Bull I have ever read. It is well-researched with powerful quotes taken from interviews, articles and documents with people who knew Sitting Bull. It is a culturally respectful biography that attempts to maintain as much of an unbiased view of the man, the people, and the historical times as possible. He does a good job of explaining the values and perspectives of the Lakota people. The timeline of Sitting Bull’s life is blended with historical notes on the changes in America. I definitely cried through the last 3 chapters. Native authors and scholars will note that this biography does not go into the deeper nuances of the Lakota culture but it is a good place to start.

[Jim]

Fascinating insight into the fight of the Sioux, led by Sitting Bull, to keep their culture and lands against the theft by white settlers.

The actions of the U.S. government can be summed up by this quote from the book: "They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land and they took it."

The author describes Sitting Bull as the embodiment of the Hunkpapa tribe of Lakota Sioux: a fierce warrior, wise leader, generous, and a holy man. Yet, author Utley does not romanticize the Sioux; he details a culture which derives male identity significantly through warfare especially against traditional enemy tribes, a culture so engrained it was impossible for Indian tribes to unite against white settlers.

This book has caused me to think about a person never mentioned in the book: Abraham Lincoln. In 1862, the discovery of gold in the headwaters of the Missouri River caused a flow of whites to Sioux lands. Along with the whites were soldiers to protect them and enforce the theft of lands. I have been thinking how under Lincoln's administration during the Civil War, it was nevertheless seen as important to divert soldiers to ensure westward expansion.

[Thomas Isern]

Re-reading a classic, impressed once again with the judgment and authority Utley brings to his subject. It is interesting to note how Utley re-threshes the Walter Stanley Camp material at OU and comes to his own conclusions with it. There are usages and sometimes positions expressed in the book that are a bit dated, and in some cases, I simply disagree, on the basis of alternative evidence, with positions taken by Utley, but what a landmark this work is! This is how a white guy should write Indian biography. For me, on this reading, the most interesting parts were late, dealing with the Canadian sojourn and the (mostly sad) reservation period. Now, on our next expedition to Saskatchewan, I want to go over some of the ground to which the work points. Likewise, on my next trip to Standing Rock, I will go with questions and destinations in mind.

[Hank Hoeft]

The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull is a thorough, meticulously-researched, and scrupulously balanced account of a man whose life and personality have been distorted in both directions—both scurrilously denigrated and worshipfully lionized—a process that began long before his death. This is understandable, as the struggle between the indigenous natives and European settlers and their descendants for the control of a vast continent was a long and bloody story, with ruthlessness and savagery on both sides, exacerbated when the two sides belong to vastly different cultures that hardly ever understood each other. And when Sitting Bull stands as both a paragon of his culture and undeniably the most influential spiritual and political leader in it, then distortion (and elevation to legendary status) is inevitable, as it is for, say, a George Washington or an Abraham Lincoln or a Robert E. Lee. The exemplary job Robert Utley does is perhaps summed up in the last words of the book: “He [Sitting Bull] was a real Indian, and a great person, completely faithful to his culture. He earned greatness as a Hunkpapa patriot, steadfastly true to the values and principles and institutions that guided his tribe. In this guise, not as some generic ideal Indian of the popular imagination, his memory achieves contemporary significance.”

[Jeff]

Best biography of Sitting Bull I have read. Exhaustively researched and well written.

[Anna]

Great detail of Sitting Bull's life, but as with most histories and biographies, it's a bit dry in places. Also, some of the wording was a bit cumbersome. Overall a good, thorough history.

[Debbie Crossland]

I work for the Fort Buford historical site in ND. I wanted to read more on Sitting Bull. This book tries to portray the indian way of thinking and part of their culture both from the Indian point of view and the whites point of view. What I have learned is a white nation that would lie and steal for greed. As sitting Bull vision revealed. The eagel would rule all. The eagle is on the American dollar. Money rules. And we are a nation that wants and wants and gets.

[SouthWestZippy]

Well researched history book, I just wish it was not such a dry read. It does have some parts that are based on speculation and other parts that are taken straight from other books. The book has a couple patches of pictures. Overall good book just lacks emotion and follow up on a few accounts.

[Dave Hall]

The first 50-100 pages are really dry and hard to get through. The period from the Battle of Little Big Horn through the end of Sitting Bull's life was a fascinating portrait of a leader.

[Keith W]

It is difficult to imagine that there will ever be a better biography of Sitting Bull, the great warrior and chief of not just the Hunkpapa Sioux but the entire Sioux nation. Robert Utley did exhaustive research, which he sets forth in exquisite detail in the endnotes for each chapter, and then narrates Sitting Bull's life in crystalline prose. I was very impressed with the soundness of all of Mr. Utley's judgments and conclusions about various aspects of Sitting Bull's interesting and exciting life. The great Hunkpapa warrior's life wound down and ended tragically, as he and his followers had to give up a life of freedom (but deprivation) in Canada to surrender to the U.S. Army at Fort Buford, ND, endure isolation at Fort Randall and then experience pressure to conform at the Standing Rock agency from agent James McLaughlin, a complex character who gave the order for Sitting Bull's arrest that resulted in his death. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of Native Americans and/or the American West. You will not be disappointed.

[Alex Anderson]

Fascinating and certainly worth a read by anyone interested in obtaining vital yet unsentimental insight into a formative time in the history of the United States. Will also be helpful to the reader in catching a glimpse of the mechanisms by which conquering cultures often decimate the cultures whom they vanquish.

In this biography Utley manages his topic adroitly. He uses a relatively light touch to treat the large, complex questions with unassuming poignancy and objectivity, while simultaneously bringing a bridled vitality to his undertaking.

Overall a compelling, soundly researched, sympathetic portrait of a tragedy of history, a singular man and his culture under siege; outgunned, outmanned, outmanoeuvred and ultimately overwhelmed by forces and imperatives far beyond his control.

[Fredrick Danysh]

An interesting biography of the Sioux medicine man who engineered Custer's defeat and led his tribe to Canada.

[Jason]

Very interesting character and history - but a bit slow and stale in writing by Utley, had hoped for better.

[Lindie Nanninga]

If you enjoy reading history of the American Indians, you'll enjoy this book. It kept me fascinated the entire time I was reading it, another book that was hard to put down!

[Jerry]

Very enlightening and packed with many history-correcting information, however, the flow of sentences made following the author's thoughts, facts and impressions difficult.

[Steve]

I had read a book a couple years back on the subject of Custer's Last Stand, and Sitting Bull was one of the Sioux warriors involved in killing all the soldiers at Little Big Horn. Now, I've got a greater context for the events that day, and I understand much more about the Lakotas and Sitting Bull himself.

Obviously, it's difficult to write biographies of Native Americans in those days, as they did not keep written records. Sitting Bull did keep pictographs of events in his life, and copies of these have survived. He was also interviewed a few times while he was alive, and people who knew him were interviewed in the decades after his death. Utley does a great job of assembling all that is known about Sitting Bull, and telling a vibrant story of his life.

Sitting Bull and the Lakota people were basically going along living as they had for decades, following the buffalo herds for food, and fighting with other tribes. Then, in the middle of the 19th Century, whites started moving into their lands, and railroads wanted to be built. It was time for the natives to fight back.

Though there are small victories, the inevitable result, though it took a long time, was that the natives would be pushed into reservations and made to conform to white cultural values such as farming and religion. Sitting Bull accepted some of this, but he was one of the last holdouts.

Here's where events in this book start overlapping with something else I have to read - I knew Wounded Knee was the site of a terrible massacre of Native Americans, but I didn't realize it took place only a few weeks after Sitting Bull was killed when things got out of hand with his arrest by reservation leaders. Sitting Bull was involved with a messianic cult that was capturing Native American interest across the middle and northern west. The ghost dancers who had been living around Sitting Bull fled, many to Wounded Knee, where they were killed. Yeah, I need more details here.

There are so many holes in my knowledge of American history - this helped to fill a few and make me aware of others.

[Tamara aka SoMysteriousLee]

I bought this book while on a semi-cross country tour with family in 1994. We toured the battlefield and all adults felt weary at such a waste of life. I read it immediately when we camped, then gifted it to my father, who read it so much it had to be repaired and rebound. His recent death meant that I got all my books back as well as the rest of his book collection. What a wonderful way to keep him in my life, I must say.

Back to the review. Heart-wrenching, insightful and remarkable is how I'd describe most of it. Wanting his people not to kowtow to white ways and become slaves to the government, he was a visionary and leader who truly believed in culture and holding on to the sacred ideas that were the foundation of his nation.

[Iain]

Utley does an excellent job of portraying Sitting Bull as a complex human being. His support of the case against Bull's murder is a bit weak, relying as it does on the testimony of the accused individuals. But as a whole the work is thorough, approachable, and engaging. Shedding light on both the man and his times. Extra points for covering Bull's time in Canada and on the reservation. Recommended for those interested in the American Indian Wars, Indians of the Northern Plains, and of course Sitting Bull and the Hunkpapa Sioux.

[Dennis]

This felt like a tough read for me, but the overall story of Sitting Bull is important. I am glad to have read it. The book is footnoted and the author has background to garner professional resources to write this story of Sitting Bull. A friend loaned me the book which he purchased used for $3.00.

[Randal Jr.]

This was an informative and enjoyable read.

[Susan Campbell]

Although this book was a bit slow in places, it did offer new insights into the Ghost Dance movement of 1890 as well as the Battle of Little Big Horn. Well worth the read.

[Lance Petry]

A good read about the legendary chief. Utley goes into great detail of Sitting Bull's life.

[Wayne Wheeler]

I thought this book was great! It gives a detailed account of Sitting Bull's life.

[Shannon Murray]

Highly recommend !!

[Joe Hauglie]

Great story of a great man. But very long nonetheless.

[Carolina]

This biography stuck with me through the decades.

[Joseph A]

Very well done. I believe also accurate!