Reviewed by:

• Spotted Tail: Warrior and Statesman by Richmond L. Clow
• Sean J. Flynn

Richmond L. Clow has navigated the hazards of Lakota historiography to produce a multifaceted biography of Spotted Tail, the first since George E. Hyde's classic 1961 study. As did Hyde, Clow accentuates the war record, personal qualities, and diplomatic deftness that propelled Spotted Tail to a position of authority among the Sicangu Lakota. Yet Clow finds Hyde's "bias in favor of Spotted Tail" (4) and his depiction of him as a "flawless leader" (7) wanting. Clow's Spotted Tail is, despite his unrivaled political accomplishments, a proud and ambitious figure whose "unilateral decisions" (7) circumvented Sicangu traditions and led to his violent demise. Readers of this book, therefore, will acquire an appreciation for Spotted Tail's extraordinary leadership while encountering a new interpretation about his death at the hands of Crow Dog, his chief political rival.

Clow does not conceal his conviction that Spotted Tail was "the right leader for [the] destabilized times" (54). He cites the "positive difference" made by Spotted Tail in the aftermath of Custer's defeat, when the Sicangu chief "remained the conduit between combatant and peace camps" (162). A respected conciliator who impressed and disarmed government officials, he proved a stubborn negotiator over the Black Hills, the sale of which he "took a long-term view of . . . out of concern for the future well-being of his people" (120). Spotted Tail did not shrink from confronting officials over tribal relocation and education matters, and when addressing principal policymakers such as President Rutherford B. Hayes, he displayed a "confidence and polish" that made him "equal to anyone in the room" (167–68).

The feud between Spotted Tail and Crow Dog is never far from the author's mind. Disagreements over grazing fees, railroad surveys, and Indian police forces exacerbated personal animosities, though Clow pins much of the blame for the acrimony on Spotted Tail and his willingness "to disregard the boundaries of tribal protocol" (232) when conferring with government officials, who, it should be remembered, were not bound by such protocols. Spotted Tail's pride, ambition, and unilateral behavior led to his demise, asserts Clow, though one could rejoin that these same qualities have been exhibited by every statesman since Pericles. Nor were Spotted Tail's ambitious enemies blameless, the author himself referencing Crow Dog's goal of "dividing the Sicangus, which only heightened Spotted Tail's dislike for his rival" (246).

These observations aside, Clow succeeds in introducing a new generation of readers to a towering warrior-statesman whose deeds shaped the course of Great Plains history. [End Page 241]

审核人：

• 斑点的尾巴：里士满·洛·库洛（Richmond L. Clow）
• 肖恩·弗林（Sean J.Flynn）

里士满·洛（Richmond L. Clow）通过浏览拉科塔（​​Lakota）史学的危害，制作了《斑点的尾巴》传记，这是自乔治·海德（George E. Hyde）1961年经典研究以来的第一本传记。就像海德一样，科洛强调战争记录，个人品质和外交技巧，这促使斑点尾巴在西坎古湖（Sicangu Lakota）中占据了权威地位。然而科洛却发现海德缺乏“偏爱斑点尾巴”的偏见（4）以及他对自己作为“完美无瑕的领袖”的描述（7）。尽管Clow的政治成就无可匹敌，但他的Spotted Tail却是一个骄傲而雄心勃勃的人物，他的“单方面决定”（7）绕过了Sicangu的传统并导致了他的暴力灭亡。因此，本书的读者将对“发现的尾巴”表示赞赏。

Clow并没有掩盖他对Spotted Tail是“不稳定时期的正确领导者”的信念（54）。他援引了卡斯特（Sicantgu）酋长的“保留战斗人员与和平营之间的通道”（162）卡斯特（Custer）击败后发现的“发现的尾巴”（Spotted Tail）产生的“积极差异”。他是一位受人尊敬的调解人，给政府官员留下了深刻的印象并使他们解除武装，他证明了在黑山的顽固谈判者，出售这笔交易“出于对他的人民的未来福祉的关注，他对……持有了长期的看法”（ 120）。发现尾巴并没有在部落迁徙和教育事务上与官员面对面，当与总统拉瑟福德·海斯（Rutherford B. Hayes）等主要政策制定者讲话时，他表现出了“信心和磨砺”，这使他“

斑点尾巴和乌鸦狗之间的争执从来都不是作者的想法。关于放牧费，铁路勘测和印度警察的分歧加剧了个人仇恨，尽管Clow将大部分责备归咎于Spoted Tail以及他与政府官员商谈时“无视部落规约边界”的意愿（232），应该记住谁不受这些协议的约束。克洛认为，发现尾巴的骄傲，野心和单方面行为导致了他的灭亡，尽管人们可以重新认识到，自伯里克利以来，每位政治家都展现出了同样的品质。斑点尾巴的野心勃勃的敌人也没有受到指责，作者本人也提到了乌鸦狗的目标：“分割西卡格斯，这只会增加斑点尾巴对他的对手的厌恶”

除了这些观察，Clow成功地向新一代的读者介绍了一个高大的战士政治家，他的事迹塑造了大平原的历史进程。[结束页241]