Great Plains Forts: Discover the Great Plains
Autor Jay H. Buckley, Jeffery D. Nokesen Limba Engleză Paperback – dec 2023
Great Plains Forts includes stories of Spanish presidios and French and British outposts in their respective borderlands. Forts played a crucial role in the international fur trade and served as emporiums along the overland trails and along riverway corridors as Euro-Americans traveled into the American West. Soldiers and families resided in these military outposts, and this military presence in turn affected Indigenous Plains peoples. The appendix includes a reference guide organized by state and province, enabling readers to search easily for specific forts.
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9781496207715
ISBN-10: 1496207718
Pagini: 256
Ilustrații: 14 photographs, 11 illustrations, 5 maps, site guide, index
Dimensiuni: 127 x 203 x 20 mm
Greutate: 0.41 kg
Editura: BISON BOOKS
Colecția Bison Books
Seria Discover the Great Plains
Locul publicării:United States
ISBN-10: 1496207718
Pagini: 256
Ilustrații: 14 photographs, 11 illustrations, 5 maps, site guide, index
Dimensiuni: 127 x 203 x 20 mm
Greutate: 0.41 kg
Editura: BISON BOOKS
Colecția Bison Books
Seria Discover the Great Plains
Locul publicării:United States
Notă biografică
Jay H. Buckley is an associate professor of history and director of the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young University. He is the author of William Clark: Indian Diplomat and coauthor (with Jeffery D. Nokes) of Explorers of the American West: Mapping the World through Primary Documents. Jeffery D. Nokes is a professor of history at Brigham Young University. He is the author of Building Students’ Historical Literacies: Learning to Read and Reason with Historical Texts and Evidence.
Extras
Chapter One
Indigenous Fortifications
Archaeologists investigating an ancient Indigenous village on
the east bank of the Missouri River in central South Dakota in
1978 made a shocking discovery: a mass grave containing the
remains of at least 486 men, women, and children who had
suffered a violent death. Their scalped, mutilated, decapitated,
and dismembered bodies filled the village’s defensive ditch
with bones piled 3 feet deep. How had these inhabitants of
the area met their doom, which archaeologists determined
occurred sometime around 1325 ad? Other archaeological
evidence at the site painted a grisly picture of the story behind
the murders.
Around 1100 AD a Native village thrived along the Missouri
River at a site now located within the Crow Creek Indian Reservation
in present-day South Dakota. Streams to the south and
west provided a steady water supply for this farming village,
and its population grew over the decades. Changes occurred
around 1300 as climatic forces and other factors caused food
shortages and starvation. The famine led to conflict between
the Crow Creek village and similar communities along the
Missouri. At some point before the massacre, the inhabitants
of Crow Creek began to build defensive fortifications around
their village. They used the natural defenses provided by the
creeks to the south and west and began to fortify the north
side of the village. Their defenses featured both inner and outer
palisades. The inner walls were fronted by a defensive ditch 1,250
feet long, varying from 15 to 50 feet wide and 6 to 12 feet deep.
After experiencing an extended period of peace and expansion,
Middle Missouri residents at Crow Creek found it necessary
to build a second, much larger defensive system around their
expanded village, with twelve bastions on the outer stockade
and a new ditch 12 feet wide and 6 feet deep.
Evidence suggests that attackers breached the defenses and
massacred the villagers, possibly while they tried to augment
their fortifications. The invaders burned the homes, granaries,
and other structures, filling one of the fortification ditches
with the scalped, mutilated, and dismembered bodies of their
victims. The practice of mutilating enemy bodies stemmed
from the notion that if one met these same enemies in the next
life, they would lack their sight, hearing, reproductive organs,
arms, and so forth, rendering them defenseless and incapable
of doing one harm. The Crow Creek Massacre reveals that the
elaborate defenses sometimes constructed by the Indigenous
inhabitants of the Great Plains did not always successfully ward
off enemy attacks from without or resolve the vulnerabilities
of internal revolt. Although an extreme example, the Crow
Creek Massacre highlights the dangers Great Plains peoples
faced and the scale of the combat and destruction that could
take place.
In this chapter, we explore the fortifications constructed by
the Indigenous peoples who lived on the Great Plains to protect
themselves from a fate like that of the Crow Creek village. We
begin by considering the evolving conditions on the plains that
led to distinct types of fortifications. We describe Mandan,
Hidatsa, Arikara, and Wichita defenses on the eastern plains
and offer examples of defensive sites and refuge strongholds
on the western high plains.
Indigenous Fortifications
Archaeologists investigating an ancient Indigenous village on
the east bank of the Missouri River in central South Dakota in
1978 made a shocking discovery: a mass grave containing the
remains of at least 486 men, women, and children who had
suffered a violent death. Their scalped, mutilated, decapitated,
and dismembered bodies filled the village’s defensive ditch
with bones piled 3 feet deep. How had these inhabitants of
the area met their doom, which archaeologists determined
occurred sometime around 1325 ad? Other archaeological
evidence at the site painted a grisly picture of the story behind
the murders.
Around 1100 AD a Native village thrived along the Missouri
River at a site now located within the Crow Creek Indian Reservation
in present-day South Dakota. Streams to the south and
west provided a steady water supply for this farming village,
and its population grew over the decades. Changes occurred
around 1300 as climatic forces and other factors caused food
shortages and starvation. The famine led to conflict between
the Crow Creek village and similar communities along the
Missouri. At some point before the massacre, the inhabitants
of Crow Creek began to build defensive fortifications around
their village. They used the natural defenses provided by the
creeks to the south and west and began to fortify the north
side of the village. Their defenses featured both inner and outer
palisades. The inner walls were fronted by a defensive ditch 1,250
feet long, varying from 15 to 50 feet wide and 6 to 12 feet deep.
After experiencing an extended period of peace and expansion,
Middle Missouri residents at Crow Creek found it necessary
to build a second, much larger defensive system around their
expanded village, with twelve bastions on the outer stockade
and a new ditch 12 feet wide and 6 feet deep.
Evidence suggests that attackers breached the defenses and
massacred the villagers, possibly while they tried to augment
their fortifications. The invaders burned the homes, granaries,
and other structures, filling one of the fortification ditches
with the scalped, mutilated, and dismembered bodies of their
victims. The practice of mutilating enemy bodies stemmed
from the notion that if one met these same enemies in the next
life, they would lack their sight, hearing, reproductive organs,
arms, and so forth, rendering them defenseless and incapable
of doing one harm. The Crow Creek Massacre reveals that the
elaborate defenses sometimes constructed by the Indigenous
inhabitants of the Great Plains did not always successfully ward
off enemy attacks from without or resolve the vulnerabilities
of internal revolt. Although an extreme example, the Crow
Creek Massacre highlights the dangers Great Plains peoples
faced and the scale of the combat and destruction that could
take place.
In this chapter, we explore the fortifications constructed by
the Indigenous peoples who lived on the Great Plains to protect
themselves from a fate like that of the Crow Creek village. We
begin by considering the evolving conditions on the plains that
led to distinct types of fortifications. We describe Mandan,
Hidatsa, Arikara, and Wichita defenses on the eastern plains
and offer examples of defensive sites and refuge strongholds
on the western high plains.
Cuprins
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Indigenous Fortifications
2. Fur Factories and Trading Posts
3. Overland Trail Emporiums
4. Military Outposts
5. Canadian Prairies Posts
Site Guide
Suggested Reading
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Indigenous Fortifications
2. Fur Factories and Trading Posts
3. Overland Trail Emporiums
4. Military Outposts
5. Canadian Prairies Posts
Site Guide
Suggested Reading
Index
Recenzii
"This is a good overview of forts and trading posts on the Great Plains. Especially enlightening is the discussion of Indigenous defense works, a subject that has not received the treatment of other posts discussed."—Randy Kane, Nebraska History
"Jay Buckley and Jeffery Nokes have provided an insightful guide to exploring the rich history of the Great Plains through its numerous forts. . . . Rather than simply focusing on military posts, it examines fortifications erected by Indigenous peoples and those built for trade. With summaries of forts across various regions, it is a useful resource for understanding the diverse stories embedded in these fortifications."—Montana The Magazine of Western History
"There is no better introduction to this very important topic. If you need a reference text on Great Plains forts for your bookshelf, make it this one."—David C. Beyreis, Roundup Magazine
"Great Plains Forts is an essential reference for any serious historian studying the forts build west of the Missouri River. . . . Whether focused on forts of American Fur Trade, U.S. Army, Indigenous tribes, or turning the pages of time back to the Spanish, French or British, the authors did a great job of grappling with a complex inventory of forts built by diverse cultures throughout the American West and Canada."—Casey J. Osback, Annals of Wyoming
“The Great Plains are a deep reservoir of American stories. Jay Buckley and Jeffery Nokes have given us a guide to pursuing some of the most revealing ones as told through the dozens of fortifications that have freckled the midcontinental landscape for centuries, from those of Indigenous peoples through others built for commerce and conquest.”—Elliott West, author of Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion
“If looking for a brief summary of forts and posts of the plains and prairie regions, this is your book. Jay Buckley and Jeffery Nokes skillfully weave a narrative history from First Nations fortifications in precontact times to Spanish, Mexican, French, English, and American complexes in both Canada and areas that became part of the United States. An appendix, province by province and state by state, gives summaries of the chronology and purpose of each establishment. No other volume accomplishes so much!”—William R. Swagerty, former director of the John Muir Center at the University of the Pacific
Descriere
Great Plains Forts introduces readers to the fortifications that have aided and impacted the lives of Indigenous peoples, fur trappers and traders, travelers, and military personnel on the Great Plains from precontact times to the present.