The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 102, July 1998 - April, 1999 Page: 416
559 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
prominence among his people and to notoriety among the encroaching peoples
pushed west by the war and its aftermath.
The middle chapters cover the increasing interaction-much of it violent-
between the Plains tribes and the white culture taking control of their range. In
Chapter Seven, titled "Peace On the Reservations; War off of Them," Robinson
relates the origins of Fort Sill, called Camp Wichita when it was established in
January 1869. At Fort Sill Satanta and other Kiowa warriors perfected their prac-
tice of an on-again-off-again peaceful life. The author explains the Kiowa point
of view as a long-held conviction that the white citizens south of the Red River
are a different and enemy people to their own white neighbors at Fort Sill.
Robinson details the complex relationship between U.S. Army personnel, gov-
ernment agents, and the Kiowa warriors. Most Texas settlers, officials, and news-
paper editors regularly demanded a radical change in federal policy toward the
Kiowa, especially "that fiend Satanta." His name sent terror through Texas com-
munities and his name was linked to most of the incidents and rumored inci-
dents on the plains.
The incident most remembered and reported, the Warren wagon raid, is
investigated in chapter eight. The raid and the resulting arrest, trial and impris-
onment of Satanta form the basis for Robinson's closing chapters. Here
Robinson does an excellent job of describing the reaction to the raid, distortion
and mis-reporting, and the fateful decision to try Satanta and his younger com-
panion, Big Tree, in a Texas criminal court far removed from the Kiowa reserve
at Fort Sill. In this radically changed social and political situation, Satanta con-
tinues to view himself as a free-ranging plains warrior in negotiation with ene-
mies of equal standing only temporarily in control. That picture is even more
tragic than the view of the Kiowa war-chief leaping from the prison window.
This biography aids our understanding of the encounter between nineteenth-
century plains peoples and those who came to replace them. Robinson is accu-
rate and insightful in his balanced report on Satanta and the events surrounding
his life. Photos of many key players and scenes of the day add to the text. A few
maps would have been helpful. Extensive notes and bibliography provide
avenues for further study. Most who become acquainted with Satanta and his
people here in Robinson's biography will want to know more of them.
Marshall MILTON S. JORDAN
Black Voices From Reconstruction, 1865-1877. By John David Smith (Gainesville:
University Press of Florida, 1997. Pp. 174. Introduction, photographs,
notes, bibliography, index) ISBN o-8130-1576-6. $12.95, paper.
Black Voices is a welcome addition to the mountain of literature and research
on African Americans during Reconstruction. It represents a generally success-
ful attempt to provide guidance to this super abundance of material. This slen-
der, interesting anthology on Reconstruction consists of a general introduction
with brief prologues of each chronological chapter. The author does a good job
in capturing "the voices of blacks-men and women, farmers and politicians,416
January
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 102, July 1998 - April, 1999, periodical, 1999; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101219/m1/473/?rotate=270: accessed April 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.