The Powder River Expedition Journals of Colonel Richard Irving Dodge

Lt. Col. Richard Irving Dodge s journals, written with utter candor for his eyes only, are the fullest firsthand account we possess of Gen. George Crook s Powder River Expedition against the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians, which culminated in Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie s resounding destruction of Dull Knife s forces on November 25, 1876. Editor Wayne R. Kime, with his customary flair, has transcribed the journals from Dodge s pocket-size notebooks and has provided a pertinent introduction and well-crafted, thoroughly illuminating annotations.

Dodge s journals will clearly prove useful to specialists in U.S. -Indian relations and the Great Sioux War, but they will also appeal to a variety of readers because of Dodge s lively style and his range of subject matter. With vigorous intelligence, he describes such topics as General Crook as a military leader and strategist, the merits of infantry versus cavalry against the Plains Indians, the effects of subzero weather in Wyoming on a large army far from its sources of supply, and of course, the elusiveness of military glory."