Dennis C. Pope

Dennis C. Pope seeks to elucidate a little known time in the life of Sitting Bull in Sitting Bull: Prisoner of War. Concentrating on the years 1881 to 1883, what scholars have up to now either ignored or glossed over, Pope addresses Sitting Bull’s surrender and his imprisonment at Fort Buford, Fort Yates, and Fort Randall. Using newspapers, government documents, and manuscripts, Pope provides Sitting Bull’s words and his interactions with the American government, particularly the Army, and those civilians who sought to interview and befriend the aging chief. Arguing that Sitting Bull “learne[ed] how to deal with the white men who now controlled his life and his people,” Pope lets the evidence illustrate what Sitting Bull learned during his imprisonment, principally his using letters, interviews with reporters and the ethnographer Alice Fletcher, and direct negotiations with the Army until he got what he desired for the Hunkpapa. Pope ultimately concludes that “Sitting Bull remained faithful to his heritage until the end of his life” and that he “continued to exemplify the virtues of generosity and courage and to fight for what he thought was best for his people.” This book provides a focused examination on Sitting Bull at this time of his life and brings together the primary sources that had been scattered in various places on the Internet and in government archives. One weakness occurs when Pope attempts to provide Sitting Bull’s own thoughts after his surrender at Fort Buford in 1881. Pope speculates, for example, that “Sitting Bull’s thoughts were not just for himself and his family, but of his band as well.” Pope adds that Sitting Bull was “honor-bound to look after them. As much as he detested the fact that the old free days were gone forever and that reservation life was now inevitable, he intended to look after his people in the best way possible. Would the whites let him?” These passages seem unnecessary and interfere with Pope’s writing of history.… (meer)

Sitting Bull, Prisoner of War is a solid historiography on a late chapter in the life of the famous Sioux tribal chief. The author, Dennis Pope, begins the book by setting the stage by giving the reader a short history of the Lakotas and its tenuous relationship with the US Gov't.
The story is that of the existence of Sitting Bull and his family from the time of his surrender at Fort Buford in North Dakota, through the hopscotching down to Fort Randall.
I thought the writer chose a good topic for a book (of which he spoke in the Preface), through his writing he seemed to know his subject well (which I have sadly found is not always the case), and utilized an extensive amount of sources to a good extent.
The only issue I had with the book was with the narrative. I put a lot of credence in the delivery of the story and found Mr. Pope's narrative to be stiff and dry and at times tough to march through. Do not get me wrong it was not written poorly, for me it just did not have the flow like the great writers of history have a knack for doing.
Would I recommend it? Yes and no. I would not recommend it to someone who is not a die hard history buff, it is not written for them. I would however recommend it to someone who has an interest in the subject and would like more insight into the life of a true American icon/legend who was a victim of America's Manifest Destiny of the Gilded Age.… (meer)

This brief book describes the life of Sitting Bull during the 20 months he spent in custody of the U.S. military at Fort Randall, a period that has not been covered in any detail by earlier biographies..

After the Battle of Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull led his people into Canada, but starvation eventually convinced them to return to the Dakotas to surrender. Most of the Hunkpapa Sioux were sent to the Standing Rock reservation, but Sitting Bull and his immediate family were isolated at Fort Randall, due to fear that he would incite an uprising if allowed to join the rest of his tribe.

The author apparently completed much of his research online, which explains the curious lack of any sense of the geography of the area. This is a minor deficiency, though, as the focus is on Sitting Bull's adjustment to his newly constrained circumstances. Although the story is told through the observations of the whites who encountered him, Sitting Bull's adaptability and his concern for his people are evident. For the first time in his life, he was unable to travel, unable to hunt, and unable to lead his people. As he became quite a celebrity and had many white visitors, Sitting Bull began charging for autographs - one of the few ways in which he could continue to provide for his family.

This book revealed enough of Sitting Bull's personality to make me want to read a more comprehensive biography.… (meer)