Reviews for Ritual Ground: Bent's Old Fort, World Formation, and the Annexation of the Southwest

The average rating for Ritual Ground: Bent's Old Fort, World Formation, and the Annexation of the Southwest based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-07-28 00:00:00 David Chanan It is my opinion that one of the things often neglected in the study of Black Hills history is the role of the military after the events of the Great Plains War of 1876. The critical role of the army in the 1874 Black Hills expedition is well known and documented but the army's role did not end there. The irony was that the 1874 expedition was 'officially' for the purpose of finding a location for an eventual army post in the area. That post would eventually be Fort Meade and it's placement had relatively little to do with the 1874 expedition. Lee's book 'Fort Meade and the Black Hills' does a very good job of explaining the process by which the fort came about. When you visit Fort Meade today you can easily see part of the reason for it's creation; Bear Butte, important native holy site, looms to the west of the fort. It was felt to be critical to watch over this butte. There was originally a smaller army post near the base of Bear Butte but the water supply there was questionable and would not have sustained a larger cavalry command. Today you can see the stream that would eventually supply water for the present day location of Fort Meade. My particular interest in the fort was during the period between it's founding in 1878 and up to the tragic events at Wounded Knee in 1890. Lee's book does not lack on either research or details in this period. Fort Meade was the site of one of the army's scandals of this period, the curious window peeping incident involving Marcus Reno. The only thing Laurie and I were disappointed in with this was that it did not say which house at the post was the one the Sturgis family lived in at that time? Most of the officer and family quarters from the 1878 period are still at the post today, we just thought it would be interesting to know which one Major Reno had his indiscretion at. The book is also amazingly well foot noted and provides an extensive bibliography. It's amazing and frustrating how many published histories today lack in this regard. This book does not lack in that regard; it is a research dream, to be able to further explore things. The book also provides some often forgotten perspectives on some of the more unusual influences on the development of the fort, such as the activities of the ladies of Deadwood. Lee really doesn't leave any stone unturned in his research in this book. Due to this we have three copies in our collection and rapidly wearing out one of those. I can only recommend this book in the highest terms.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-09-14 00:00:00 Alberto Zayas Rich fare, heady stuff!