an anthropological account of the Plains Indians, and a guide to the difficult military problems which the Plains Indians posed to their opponents. Finally, it is a bitter indictment, by one in a position to know best, of how the policy of Indian pacification was carried out in practice: a pattern of neglect and broken promises that led to much needless bloodshed.
Bourke writes in the style of the nineteenth century, so compared to a modern military memoir he is somewhat wordy, with many stylistic flourishes. Nevertheless, he has a sharp eye and a keen mind. Early in the book he paints a vivid word-picture of Tucson, then a frontier outpost with two restaurants -- one called the "Shoo-fly" -- several gambling halls, and no hotels (pp. 56ff). Now-familiar items of Mexican cuisine are introduced to the reader as exotic novelties. To Bourke's eyes, not long after the famous re-discov
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