Synopses & Reviews
The soldiers were so close George could hear their orders, even their conversations. God, he hated them. Laughing as if they were on a hunting party and had cornered the game. All his life he had felt white arrogance, that smug superiority. But these soldiers were treating his people like animals. A bullet plowed into the sand just inches from his face. Enraged and numb to the awful pain in his hip, he jumped up and shouted in English, Come on, you goddamn white sons-of-bitches, and kill me if you are a brave man. Suddenly, high above him, an artillery shell exploded, raining lead balls and shell fragments. The soldiers had moved their cannons upstream.... George understood this new danger; he himself had served such guns in the Confederate army. The amazing and uncommon life of George Bent spanned one of the most exciting epochs in our nation's history. Born to a prominent white trader and his Indian wife, George Bent was raised as a Cheyenne and, later, educated in white schools. He fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War and later became a Cheyenne warrior. A survivor of the horrific 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, he rode with the ferocious Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, and became a prominent interpreter and negotiator for whites and adviser to tribal leaders. He hobnobbed with frontier legends Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, and George Custer, and fought side-by-side with great Indian leaders. Always brushing against the edges of greatness, always in the center of controversy and danger, Bent was a survivor. Yet for all his adventures, accomplishments, and friendships, George Bent, the halfbreed, never found lasting happiness in either world, Indian or white. Yet this man, inhis final years, saved the memory of his people by sharing with historians the story of the fighting Cheyennes.This is the story of the amazing and uncommon life of George Bent--a halfbreed born to a prominent white trader and his Indian wife--whose lifetime spanned one of the most exciting epochs in our nation's history. Raised as a Cheyenne but educated in white schools, George Bent fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, became a Cheyenne warrior and survived the horrific 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, rode and killed for revenge with the ferocious Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, and later became a prominent interpreter and negotiator for whites and adviser to tribal leaders. He hobnobbed with frontier legends Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, and George Custer, and fought side-by-side with great Indian leaders. After a lifetime of adventures and misfortunes, accomplishments and failures, George Bent made a lasting contribution to the memory of his people by sharing with historians the story of the fighting Cheyennes.
Synopsis
This is the story of the amazing and uncommon life of George Bent-a "halfbreed" born to a prominent white trader and his Indian wife-whose lifetime spanned one of the most exciting epochs in our nation's history. Raised as a Cheyenne but educated in white schools, George Bent fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, became a Cheyenne warrior and survived the horrific 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, rode and killed for revenge with the ferocious Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, and later became a prominent interpreter and negotiator for whites and adviser to tribal leaders. He hobnobbed with frontier legends Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, and George Custer, and fought side-by-side with great Indian leaders. After a lifetime of adventures and misfortunes, accomplishments and failures, George Bent made a lasting contribution to the memory of his people by sharing with historians the story of the fighting Cheyennes.
Synopsis
"This is the story of the amazing and uncommon life of George Bent-a ""halfbreed"" born to a prominent white trader and his Indian wife-whose lifetime spanned one of the most exciting epochs in our natio"
About the Author
David F. Halaas is the Director of Library and Archives of Pittsburghs Smithsonian-affiliated Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. Andrew E. Masich is the President of Library and Archives of Pittsburghs Smithsonian-affiliated Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum.