Patrick Connor's War


Book Description

The summer of 1865 marked the transition from the Civil War to Indian war on the western plains. With the rest of the country's attention still focused on the East, the U.S. Army began an often forgotten campaign against the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. Led by Gen. Patrick Connor, the Powder River Indian Expedition into Wyoming sought to punish tribes for raids earlier that year. Patrick Connor's War describes the troops' movement into hostile territory while struggling with bad weather, supply shortages, and communication problems. David E. Wagner's carefully assembled account carries readers along the trail of Connor's men and allows soldiers to give firsthand impressions of the land and campaign. The author draws on journals, letters, and reports--especially the James H. Kidd Papers, a copy of Connor's expedition report previously believed burned, and the newly discovered C. M. Lee diary--to reconstruct a day-by-day chronology that finds the men trudging, sometimes barefoot and half starved, over unforgiving terrain. The thrill and danger of buffalo hunts and skirmishes with Indians punctuated an arduous trek across the northern plains. Copious maps tie narrative to topography by plotting Connor's route and the paths of the units under him. Also included is a detailed account of the civilian road-building expedition of James Sawyers, whose fate became intertwined with the Powder River expedition. Two dozen illustrations and biographical sketches of main players round out the work. This first major campaign of the post-Civil War Indian wars has been largely overlooked by historians--but should be no longer. Patrick Connor's War breaks new ground by bringing the expedition to life in fascinating detail that will satisfy scholars and engage general readers.




Reconstruction and Mormon America


Book Description

The South has been the standard focus of Reconstruction, but reconstruction following the Civil War was not a distinctly Southern experience. In the post–Civil War West, American Indians also experienced reconstruction through removal to reservations and assimilation to Christianity, and Latter-day Saints—Mormons—saw government actions to force the end of polygamy under threat of disestablishing the church. These efforts to bring nonconformist Mormons into the American mainstream figure in the more familiar scheme of the federal government’s reconstruction—aimed at rebellious white Southerners and uncontrolled American Indians. In this volume, more than a dozen contributors look anew at the scope of the reconstruction narrative and offer a unique perspective on the history of the Latter-day Saints. Marshaled by editors Clyde A. Milner II and Brian Q. Cannon, these writers explore why the federal government wanted to reconstruct Latter-day Saints, when such efforts began, and how the initiatives compare with what happened with white Southerners and American Indians. Other contributions examine the effect of the government’s policies on Mormon identity and sense of history. Why, for example, do Latter-day Saints not have a Lost Cause? Do they share a resentment with American Indians over the loss of sovereignty? And were nineteenth-century Mormons considered to be on the “wrong” side of a religious line, but not a “race line”? The authors consider these and other vital questions and topics here. Together, and in dialogue with one another, their work suggests a new way of understanding the regional, racial, and religious dynamics of reconstruction—and, within this framework, a new way of thinking about the creation of a Mormon historical identity.




Taming the Elephant


Book Description

The final of four volumes in the 'California History Sesquicentennial Series', this text compiles original essays which treat the consequential role of post-Gold Rush California government, politics and law in the building of a dynamic state with lasting impact to the present day.




Indian Wars of Canada, Mexico and the United States, 1812-1900


Book Description

Fully illustrated, this unique and fascinating study sheds new light on familiar events. Drawing on anthropology and ethnohistory as well as the 'new military history', this book interprets and compares the way Indians and European Americans waged wars in Canada, Mexico, the USA and Yucatán during the nineteenth century.




The Deadliest Indian War in the West


Book Description

Gregroy Michno, author of several critically acclaimed books on America's Indian wars, gives readers the first comprehensive look at the natives, soldiers and settlers who clashed on the high desert of Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Northern California in a struggle that, over a four-year period, claimed more lives than any other western Indian War.




Jim Bridger


Book Description

Even among iconic frontiersmen like John C. Frémont, Kit Carson, and Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger stands out. A mountain man of the American West, straddling the fur trade era and the age of exploration, he lived the life legends are made of. His adventures are fit for remaking into the tall tales Bridger himself liked to tell. Here, in a biography that finally gives this outsize character his due, Jerry Enzler takes this frontiersman’s full measure for the first time—and tells a story that would do Jim Bridger proud. Born in 1804 and orphaned at thirteen, Bridger made his first western foray in 1822, traveling up the Missouri River with Mike Fink and a hundred enterprising young men to trap beaver. At twenty he “discovered” the Great Salt Lake. At twenty-one he was the first to paddle the Bighorn River’s Bad Pass. At twenty-two he explored the wonders of Yellowstone. In the following years, he led trapping brigades into Blackfeet territory; guided expeditions of Smithsonian scientists, topographical engineers, and army leaders; and, though he could neither read nor write, mapped the tribal boundaries for the Great Indian Treaty of 1851. Enzler charts Bridger’s path from the fort he built on the Oregon Trail to the route he blazed for Montana gold miners to avert war with Red Cloud and his Lakota coalition. Along the way he married into the Flathead, Ute, and Shoshone tribes and produced seven children. Tapping sources uncovered in the six decades since the last documented Bridger biography, Enzler’s book fully conveys the drama and details of the larger-than-life history of the “King of the Mountain Men.” This is the definitive story of an extraordinary life.




Dictionary of Battles and Sieges [3 volumes]


Book Description

Lead Reviewer: Dr. Daniel Coetzee, Independent Scholar, London, UK Review Board: Jeremy Black, University of Exeter, UK Dr. Frances F. Berdan, Professor of Anthropology, California State University, San Bernardino David A. Graff, Associate Professor, Department of History, Kansas State University Dr. Kevin Jones, University College London Dr. John Laband, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Dr. Carter Malkasian, Center for Naval Analysis Mr. Toby McLeod, Lecturer in Modern History, University of Birmingham, UK Dr. Tim Moreman, Independent Scholar, London, UK Professor Bill Nasson, Department of Historical Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa Dr. David Nicolle, Honourary Research Fellow, Nottingham University, UK Dr. Kaushik Roy, Lecturer, Department of History, Presidency College, Kolkata, India Dennis Showalter, Professor of History, Colorado College Dr. Stephen Turnbull, Lecturer in Japanese Religious Studies, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Leeds University, UK Professor Michael Whitby, Professor of Classics and Ancient History, University of Warwick, UK Over 8,500 battles and sieges are covered-easily the most exhaustive reference source on this basic aspect of military history. Thoroughly vetted by an expert board of period and regional experts, this dictionary offers easy to find A-Z entries that cover conflicts from practically every era and place of human history. In addition to exhaustive coverage of World War II, World War I, the American Civil War, medieval wars, and conflicts during the classical era, this dictionary covers battles fought in pre-modern Africa, the Middle East, Ancient and Medieval India, China, and Japan, and early meso-American warfare as well. Going well beyond the typical greatest or most influential battle format, The Dictionary of Battles and Sieges offers readers information they would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Entries were reviewed by area and period experts to ensure accuracy and to provide the broadest coverage possible. Jaques's Dictionary is truly global in scope, covering East Asia, South Asia, Eurasia, Europe, Africa, Mesoamerica, and North and South America. Battles from wars great and small are in the dictionary, including battles from this very brief sampling of wars covered, listed to give an idea of the book's deep coverage: Egyptian-Syrian Wars (1468 BC); the Assyrian Wars (724 - 648 BC); Greco-Persian Wars (498 - 450 BC); the Conquests of Alexander the Great (335-326 BC); Rome's Gallic Wars (121-52 BC); Han Imperial Wars (208); Hun-Ostrogoth Wars (454-68); Sino-Vietnamese Wars (547-605); Mecca-Medina War (624-30); Jinshin War (672); Berber Rebellion (740-61); Viking Raids on, and in, Britain (793-954); Sino-Annamese War (938); Byzantine Military Rebellions (978-89); Afghan Wars of Succession (998-1041); Russian Dynastic Wars (1016-94); Reconquista (1063-1492); Crusader-Muslim Wars (1100- 1179); Swedish Wars of Succession (1160-1210); Conquests of Genghis Khan (1202-27); William Wallace Revolt (1297-1304); Hundred Years War (1337-1453); War of Chioggia (1378-80); Vijayanagar-Bahmani Wars (1367-1406); Ottoman Civil Wars (1413-81); Mongol-Uzbek Wars (1497-1512); German Knights' War (1523); Burmese-Laotian Wars (1574); Cambodian-Spanish War (1599); King Philip's War (1675-77); Franco-Barbary Wars (1728); Bengal War (1763-65); French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1801); Chilean War of Independence (1813-26); Boer-Zulu War (1838); Indian Mutiny (1858-59); Mexican-French War (1862-67); Sino-Japanese War (1894-95); World War I (1914-18); Anhwei-Chihli War (1920); World War II (1939-45) Mau Mau Revolt (1955); 2nd Indo-Pakistani War (1965); Angolan War (1987-88); 2nd Gulf War (2003- ).




The Encyclopedia of Strikes in American History


Book Description

Strikes have been part of American labor relations from colonial days to the present, reflecting the widespread class conflict that has run throughout the nation's history. Against employers and their goons, against the police, the National Guard, local, state, and national officials, against racist vigilantes, against their union leaders, and against each other, American workers have walked off the job for higher wages, better benefits, bargaining rights, legislation, job control, and just plain dignity. At times, their actions have motivated groundbreaking legislation, defining new rights for all citizens; at other times they have led to loss of workers' lives. This comprehensive encyclopedia is the first detailed collection of historical research on strikes in America. To provide the analytical tools for understanding strikes, the volume includes two types of essays - those focused on an industry or economic sector, and those focused on a theme. Each industry essay introduces a group of workers and their employers and places them in their economic, political, and community contexts. The essay then describes the industry's various strikes, including the main issues involved and outcomes achieved, and assesses the impact of the strikes on the industry over time. Thematic essays address questions that can only be answered by looking at a variety of strikes across industries, groups of workers, and time, such as, why the number of strikes has declined since the 1970s, or why there was a strike wave in 1946. The contributors include historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and philosophers, as well as current and past activists from unions and other social movement organizations. Photos, a Topic Finder, a bibliography, and name and subject indexes add to the works appeal.




Google Maps Activity Book


Book Description

Great value Activity Book with more than 400 pages of worksheets and activities using Google Maps, Google Earth and Google Street View. Covers a range of topics, subject areas and skills. All self-guiding, challenging and very original. An updated and attractive single book of activities with an answer key. Invest in this book, download and just print off whatever you need, whenever you need it. This book can be used as a tool to teach library skills, geography knowledge, mapping skills, social studies - all within a cross curriculum approach. Comprehensive answer key included.




Medical Histories of Union Generals


Book Description

During the Civil War, the majority of the 583 Union generals studied here were afflicted by disease, injured by accidents, or suffered wounds. This book includes a glossary of medical terms as well as a sequence of medical events during the Civil War listing wounds, accidents, and deaths.