Voices of the American West, Volume 1: The Indian Interviews of Eli S. Ricker, 1903-1919 - Paperback

by Eli S. Ricker (Author), Richard E. Jensen (Editor)

The valuable interviews conducted by Nebraska judge Eli S. Ricker with Indian eyewitnesses to the Wounded Knee massacre, the Little Big Horn battle, the Grattan incident, and other events and personages of the Old West are finally made widely available in this long-awaited volume. In the first decade of the twentieth century, as the Old West became increasingly distant and romanticized in popular consciousness, Eli S. Ricker (1843-1926) began interviewing those who had experienced it firsthand, hoping to write a multi-volume series about its last days. Among the many individuals he interviewed were American Indians, mostly Sioux, who spoke extensively about a range of subjects, some with the help of an interpreter. For years Ricker traveled across the northern Plains, determinedly gathering information on and off reservations, in winter and in summer. Judge Ricker never wrote his book, but his interviews are priceless sources of information about the Old West that offer more balanced perspectives on events than were accepted at the time. Richard E. Jensen brings together all of Ricker's interviews with American Indians, annotating the conversations and offering an extensive introduction that sets forth important information about Ricker, his research, and the editorial methodology guiding the present volume. Eli S. Ricker (1843-1926) served with the 102nd Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War. After the war, he began farming but was eventually admitted to the bar and moved to Dawes County, Nebraska, to set up his law practice. There, he served for three terms as a county judge and then worked as a newspaper man at the Chadron Times. Ricker devoted his retirement to research for a book that was to be titled The Final Conflict between the Red Man and the Pale Face, which was never written as Ricker became so engrossed in his research. Upon his death, Ricker's notebooks, data, and correspondence were donated to the Nebraska State Historical Society. Richard E. Jensen is retired from the Nebraska State Historical Society, where he was senior research anthropologist. His most recent books are Here You Have My Story: Eyewitness Accounts of the Nineteenth-Century Central Plains (2009) and The Pawnee Mission Letters, 1834-1851 (2010).

Author Biography

Richard E. Jensen is retired from the Nebraska State Historical Society, where he was senior research anthropologist. His most recent books are The Pawnee Mission Letters, 1834-1851 and Eyewitness at Wounded Knee, both available from the University of Nebraska Press.