AngelaCramer
Book Review
02/08/2023
Gardner,MarkLee.TheEarthisAllThatLasts:CrazyHorse,SittingBullandtheLastStandof the Great
Sioux Nation. NewYork, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2022. $28.99.
Award-Winning historian, author andAmerican West expert, Mark Lee Gardner, has
within his latest book, The Earth is All That Lasts, fashioned an engaging, accurate
representation and dual biography of two of the most iconic Lakota Chiefs in Sioux history:
Crazy Horse (a mysterious and brave war chief) and Sitting Bull (a holy man with the gift of
vision). Within this biographical text, Gardner has developed a theory of the unfavorable
treatment of the Sioux Nation by theAmerican Government and the “white man.” Gardner
portrays thediversity in leadership, skilland disposition of the two leaders as they navigatethe
militaristicandpoliticalmilieuofthenativetribesagainsttheU.S.government’sencroachment of their
land and way of life.
These great Lakota Chiefs are given life through a narrative, chronological look at the
eventsthat occurredin thelate 19thcentury. Mr.Gardnerremarkablydemonstratesthewaysin
whichCrazyHorseandSittingBull,alongwiththeirwarriors,stoodtheirgroundnomatterthe
consequenceagainstthe“white”infringement.Whilethenarrativeisengagingandagreatread in itself,
thereal substancewithinthe bookistheexplanation ofthe mistreatment ofthe Sioux.
To present his argument, the author creates a well-founded argument using knowledge
derivedfromtheThomasFitzpatrickletterstoWilliamMedillonJune1standagainonAugust 1st of
1849. In theseletters, Fitzpatrick outlined his ideas for whatwould becometheTreaty of
Fort Laramie of 1851. Gardner recounts the interactions of the commissioners of IndianAffairs
and the headmen of the various nations represented. In these interactions, it is stated that these
“headmen” and chiefs that were present did not speak any English, and as thus needed a
translator. He further explains that the translators were generally half native and half white and
how Mr. Fitzpatrick had previously called these translators, “ignorant and weak-minded.” In the
same letters in which he references this he directs attention to the fact that these translators did
nothavegoodcommandoftheEnglishlanguage,noroftheir“mothertongues.”Theimplication here is
that this treaty was written in bad faith. Essentially, the commissioners knew the Great Indian
Council that had convened was not entirely aware of the particulars within the treaty itself- that
they likely had a misunderstanding due to the lack of knowledge of the translators.
These ideas are further supported throughout the book by Mr. Gardner as he recounts
various interactions between theAmericans and the Native tribes. Specifically speaking, as
Americanswouldtrytoupholdsomeofthetreatyprovisionsinwhichthenativetribeeldersand chiefs
would react with a sense of surprise or anger, feeling as though they had been lied to on these
specifics. Mr. Gardner does a brilliant job at using dozens of interviews and oral histories of
Indian contemporaries of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull to recreate the emotions of the Native
tribes during those times.
Gardner develops his argument in a powerful manner that brings the NativeAmerican
viewofthewarsfoughtintheplainstopublicconsciousness,animportantviewpointthatshould be
examined by allAmericans in reference to its history. The Earth is All That Lasts is a must read
for anyone interested inAmerican History and the Western frontier as well as anyone studying
the history of Native Americans.
Bibliography
Gagnon, Greg. Review of The Scalping of the Great Sioux Nation: A Review of My Life on the
Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations, by Phillip E. Davis. The Canadian Journal of
Native Studies. 2010. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?
url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/scalping-great-sioux-nation-review-my-
life-on/docview/1009079313/se-2.
Gardner,MarkLee.TheEarthisAllThatLasts:CrazyHorse,SittingBullandtheLastStandof the Great
Sioux Nation. NewYork, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2022.
Ostler, Jeffrey. Review of Crazy Horse:ALakota Life, by Kingsley M. Bray. Montana: The
Magazine of Western History, Spring 2007.
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-
journals/crazy-horse-lakota-life/docview/217974180/se-2.
Wilton,Shirley.ReviewofTheLifeandDeathofCrazyHorse,byRussellFreedman.SchoolLibrary
Journal, June 1996. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?
url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/life-death-crazy-
horse/docview/1970159212/se-2.
