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Battles of the Red River War: Archeological Perspectives on the Indian Campaign of 1874
Battles of the Red River War unearths a long-buried record of the collision of two cultures.
In 1874, U.S. forces led by Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie carried out a surprise attack on several Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa bands that had taken refuge in the Palo Duro Canyon of the Texas panhandle and destroyed their winter stores and horses. After this devastating loss, many of these Indians returned to their reservations and effectively brought to a close what has come to be known as the Red River War, a campaign carried out by the U.S. Army during 1874 as a result of Indian attacks on white settlers in the region. After this operation, the Southern Plains Indians would never again pose a coherent threat to whites’ expansion and settlement across their ancestral homelands.
Until now, the few historians who have undertaken to tell the story of the Red River War have had to rely on the official records of the battles and a handful of extant accounts, letters, and journals of the U.S. Army participants. Starting in 1998, J. Brett Cruse, under the auspices of the Texas Historical Commission, conducted archeological investigations at six battle sites. In the artifacts they unearthed, Cruse and his teams found clues that would both correct and complete the written records and aid understanding of the Indian perspectives on this clash of cultures.
Including a chapter on historiography and archival research by Martha Doty Freeman and an analysis of cartridges and bullets by Douglas D. Scott, this rigorously researched and lavishly illustrated work will commend itself to archeologists, military historians and scientists, and students and scholars of the Westward Expansion.
In 1874, U.S. forces led by Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie carried out a surprise attack on several Cheyenne, Comanche, and Kiowa bands that had taken refuge in the Palo Duro Canyon of the Texas panhandle and destroyed their winter stores and horses. After this devastating loss, many of these Indians returned to their reservations and effectively brought to a close what has come to be known as the Red River War, a campaign carried out by the U.S. Army during 1874 as a result of Indian attacks on white settlers in the region. After this operation, the Southern Plains Indians would never again pose a coherent threat to whites’ expansion and settlement across their ancestral homelands.
Until now, the few historians who have undertaken to tell the story of the Red River War have had to rely on the official records of the battles and a handful of extant accounts, letters, and journals of the U.S. Army participants. Starting in 1998, J. Brett Cruse, under the auspices of the Texas Historical Commission, conducted archeological investigations at six battle sites. In the artifacts they unearthed, Cruse and his teams found clues that would both correct and complete the written records and aid understanding of the Indian perspectives on this clash of cultures.
Including a chapter on historiography and archival research by Martha Doty Freeman and an analysis of cartridges and bullets by Douglas D. Scott, this rigorously researched and lavishly illustrated work will commend itself to archeologists, military historians and scientists, and students and scholars of the Westward Expansion.
- GenresArchaeology
272 pages, Hardcover
First published August 18, 2008
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June 25, 2013
I received an autographed copy of this book while serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission a few years ago. A great aunt of mine and her husband, Mary Ten Eyck Turner and Avery Turner (a well-known railroad executive), lived in Amarillo, Texas at the start of the 20th century. Hence this region of Texas and its history is of interest to me. The events described occurred not too long after Mary and Avery Turner arrived in the Panhandle.
This impeccably-researched book documents the "Red River War Battle Sites Project," an archaeological study begun in 1998, with the help of the Texas Historical Commission. J. Brett Cruse's discoveries in the Texas Panhandle greatly improve upon past knowledge about the Red River War, 1874-75, a landmark event vis-a-vis the relationship between the U.S. and the Indian tribes of the Southern Plains (Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne and Arapaho). Through metal detection and other means, Cruse and his team unearthed battle artifacts that shed light on the weaponry used by U.S. soldiers, and as well as the weapons used by the Indians they sought to control - from Gatling guns and Henry and Winchester rifles to howitzers, from traditional Indian tomahawks and arrows, to knives and shields. These discoveries have helped to pinpoint exact battle locations, and they provide heretofore unknown battle insights.
This book would be especially fascinating for those interested in the late 19th-century weaponry. It is impressive, and an outstanding example of archaeological research in Texas.
This impeccably-researched book documents the "Red River War Battle Sites Project," an archaeological study begun in 1998, with the help of the Texas Historical Commission. J. Brett Cruse's discoveries in the Texas Panhandle greatly improve upon past knowledge about the Red River War, 1874-75, a landmark event vis-a-vis the relationship between the U.S. and the Indian tribes of the Southern Plains (Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne and Arapaho). Through metal detection and other means, Cruse and his team unearthed battle artifacts that shed light on the weaponry used by U.S. soldiers, and as well as the weapons used by the Indians they sought to control - from Gatling guns and Henry and Winchester rifles to howitzers, from traditional Indian tomahawks and arrows, to knives and shields. These discoveries have helped to pinpoint exact battle locations, and they provide heretofore unknown battle insights.
This book would be especially fascinating for those interested in the late 19th-century weaponry. It is impressive, and an outstanding example of archaeological research in Texas.
Displaying 1 of 1 review