On the Border with Crook Book

Great first hand account from the Army pov of the Apache and Sioux/Cheyenne wars. George Crook was a rare leader of honesty and character. Good material on early days in Tucson, AZ in there. The thing I picked up, after having a minor in Native American Studies and History of the American West, is that "scout" Indians turned on their own tribes and helped Crook and the Army. You won't find that fact in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, which portrays Indians as being in total solidarity to white advance. But then one always gets a more accurate view reading first hand sources like this one over interpretations like Bury My Heart . . . The coverage of the second Apache campaign against Geronimo is a little weak, as Bourke covers the surrender and the politics and not much more than that. But what rings through is Crook's character and integrity.