Synopses & Reviews
Hoping to complete its transcontinental route, the Northern Pacific Railroad set out in 1872 to survey the Yellowstone Valley. An emissary from the Lakota chief Sitting Bull had warned the two surveying expeditions (eastern and western) not to enter the valley. But no oneandmdash;certainly no Northern Pacific investorandmdash;was worried about taking the Indian threat seriously.
As it turned out, the Indians were deadly seriousandmdash;and successful. The firsthand accounts compiled here by M. John Lubetkin document the surveyandrsquo;s three-month struggle with the Lakotas and other Plains Indian people. Before Custer: Surveying the Yellowstone, 1872 tells the story of a military and public relations disaster. Much to the surprised dismay of U.S. Army strategists and railroad executives, the Indians repeatedly harrassed army forces of nearly a thousand men. One surveying party turned back, without meeting its objectives, after a determined attack led by Sitting Bull. The other also retreated, and one ambush it encountered resulted in the death of a member of President Ulysses S. Grantandrsquo;s family and the narrow escape of the railroadandrsquo;s lead engineer.
The previously unpublished documents that Lubetkin has collected and annotated also tell a parallel story: that of the dire consequences of the railroadandrsquo;s problems for the country. When the Northern Pacificandrsquo;s expansion plans were thwarted, the nationandrsquo;s largest private banking house failed, leading to the Panic of 1873. The fighting brought Sitting Bull to national attention and led directly to George Armstrong Custerandrsquo;s transfer to the Department of Dakota.
The vivid eyewitness accounts artfully assembled here reveal the failures of alcoholic army commanders and show personal encounters between soldiers and Indians, among them the formidable Lakota warrior known as Gall. Before Custer tells of a little-known but crucial episode in the history of westward expansion and Native peoplesandrsquo; efforts to halt that expansion.
Review
andldquo;John Lubetkin has served up another exceptional trove of firsthand accounts documenting northwestern Dakota Territory and Montanaandrsquo;s Yellowstone River valley, all under the guise of the Northern Pacific Railroad surveys of 1872.and#160;The journal entries, letters, diaries, and newspaper articles collected here describe industry, landscapes, and Native peoples existing in a raw but enduringly fascinating time in the American West.andrdquo;andmdash;Paul L. Hedren, author of After Custer: Loss and Transformation in Sioux Country
Review
andldquo;Before Custerand#160;presents an array of little-known sources highlighting the Northern Pacific Railroad survey of 1872, which factored into the impending war with the Sioux in 1876andndash;77.and#160;John Lubetkin knows this topic well, and his selections are exciting and significant.andrdquo;andmdash;Jerome A. Greene, author of American Carnage: Wounded Knee, 1890
Synopsis
The firsthand accounts compiled here by M.and#160;John Lubetkin document the surveyandrsquo;s three-month struggle with the Lakotas and other Plains Indian people. Before Custer: Surveying the Yellowstone, 1872 tells the story of a military and public relations disaster. Much to the surprised dismay of U.S. Army strategists and railroad executives, the Indians repeatedly harrassed army forces of nearly a thousand men.
About the Author
M. John Lubetkin is a retired cable television executive and the author of Jay Cookeand#39;s Gamble: The Northern Pacific Railroad, the Sioux, and the Panic of 1873, winner of the Little Big Horn Associatesand#39; John M. Carroll Award (Book of the Year) and a Spur Award for Best Historical Non-fiction from the Western Writers of America.