Books by Robert M. Utley

This award-winning history of the Sioux in the 19th century ranges from its forced migration to the reservation to the Wounded Knee Massacre. First published in 1963, Robert M. Utley's classic study of the Sioux Nation was a landmark achievement in Native American historical research. The St. Louis Dispatch called it ';by far the best treatment of the complex and controversial relationship between the Sioux and their conquerors yet presented and should be must reading for serious students of Western Americana.' Today, it remains one of the most thorough and accurate depictions of the tragic violence that broke out near Wounded Knee Creek on December 29th, 1890. In the preface to this second edition, western historian Robert M. Utley reflects on the importance of his work and changing perspectives on Native American history. Acknowledging the inaccuracy of his own title, he points out that ';Wounded Knee did not represent the end of the Sioux tribesIt ended one era and open another in the lives of the Sioux people.' Winner of the Buffalo Award

Presents the history of the final, massive drive by the Regular Army to subdue and control the American Indians and open the West during the twenty-five years following the Civil War. This work offers accounts of the campaign directed by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn has always been wrapped in mystery and controversy because none of Custer's men survived to tell what happened. Focusing on the origins of the Custer myth, this book helps the reader understand the sources of the confusion and controversy, surrounding the Custer fight and the beginning of the legend.

The oft-told exploits of Billy the Kid and Ned Kelly survive vividly in the public imaginations of their respective countries, the United States and Australia. But the outlaws' reputations are so weighted with legend and myth, the truth of their lives has become obscure. In this adventure-filled double biography, Robert M. Utley reveals the true stories and parallel courses of the two notorious contemporaries who lived by the gun, were executed while still in their twenties, and remain compelling figures in the folklore of their homelands. Robert M. Utley draws sharp, insightful portraits of first Billy, then Ned, and compares their lives and legacies. He recounts the adventurous exploits of Billy, a fun-loving, expert sharpshooter who excelled at escape and lived on the run after indictment for his role in the Lincoln Country War. Bush-raised Ned, the son of an Irish convict father and Irish mother, was a man whose outrage against British colonial authority inspired him to steal cattle and sheep, kill three policemen, and rob banks for the benefit of impoverished Irish sympathizers. Utley recounts the exploits of the notorious young men with accuracy and appeal. He discovers their profound differences, despite their shared fates, and illuminates the worlds in which they lived on opposite sides of the globe.

Examines the career of the young outlaw whose life and death were an expression of the violence prevalent on the American frontier.

Offers a comprehensive history of the achievements and failures of the United States Regular and Volunteer Armies that confronted the Indian tribes of the West in the two decades between the Mexican War and the close of the Civil War. The author describes many of these skirmishes in consummate detail, including descriptions of garrison life.