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Autobiography of Red Cloud: War Leader of the Oglalas. Edited by R Eli Paul. Helena: Montana Historical Society Press, 1997. ISBN 0-917298-50-0. Map. Photograph. Notes. Index. Pp. xv, 220. $15.95.
Ever since publication of Mari Sandoz's fictionalized version of his life in 1942, Crazy Horse's image as the most important Oglala Sioux war leader has been on the rise. Unfortunately, that ascendancy has come at the expense of Red Cloud, who traditionally held the high honor among the general public and among a significant portion of Oglala people. The book under review here helps to restore Red Cloud's warrior status, at least for the period prior to the late 1860s when he moved to the Great Sioux Reservation and assumed the diplomat's role.
This highly personalized story owes...