Talented, intelligent and capable leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux. Had he belonged to an earlier generation, success would have been guaranteed, however by the latter half of the 1800s relations between the white and the red man had almost completely disintegrated, and a darker destiny awaited the proud warrior. In 1868, after all attempts to make peace with the white man had failed, Sitting Bull was made chief of the Sioux nation in the hope that centralized leadership would allow them to succeed in the inevitable war against the whites. Ironically it was their unmitigated success at Little Big Horn that was the beginning of their end. The massacre of Custer and his troops infuriated the military, and Sitting Bull was forced to retreat with his people into Canada. There, despite his leadership, they lived a precarious existence; buffalo were scarce and winters were bitter. Faced with starvation and hostility from Canada, Sitting Bull was forced to surrender to US forces. A broken man, he was forced to tour in several exhibitions including a stint with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show where he was mocked and jeered at as the 'murderer of Custer.' Finally, old, tired and disappointed, he was allowed to retire to Standing Rock reservation. There, on December 15, 1890, he was killed by a Sioux police force sent in by the Indian Bureau to halt a subversive ritual called the Ghost Dance. The 59-year-old chief, who had scoffed at the messianic ritual, was dragged from his bed and arrested. Over one hundred dancers rushed to his aid, and in the confusion he was shot dead by Sioux Police Chief Bull Head. For Sitting Bull, a long, difficult and confusing war against the white man ended ironically, in death at the hands of his own people. Ink signature, 'Sitting Bull,' on an off-white 6.75 x 4 album page. Album page has been affixed to the first free end page of an 1891 copy of The Life Of Sitting Bull and History of the Indian War. In fine condition, with a touch of light soiling to page as well as a collector's pencil notation to bottom of page. Book's front cover has separated from the binding and age toning to pages. RRAuction COA.
