To Live and Die in the West

Book excerpt: The apocalyptic clashes of culture between the land-hungry whites and the American Indians, which reached their climax in the latter half of the nineteenth century, were among the most tragic of all wars ever fought. These conflicts pitted one civilization against another, neither able to comprehend or accommodate the other. To the victor went domination of the continent, to the vanquished the destruction of their way of life. This volume describes those who took part in these wars, focusing on the Plains Indians such as the Sioux and the Cheyenne, the Apache peoples of the south-west, and their implacable foe, the US Cavalry.