The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend

Bob Drury · Tom Clavin

Nov 2013 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

New York Times Bestseller: This biography of the Sioux warrior who defeated the US Army is “a page-turner” with “the narrative sweep of a great Western” (The Boston Globe).

Red Cloud was the only American Indian in history to defeat the United States Army in a war, forcing the government to sue for peace on his terms. At the peak of Red Cloud’s powers, the Sioux could claim control of one-fifth of the contiguous United States and the loyalty of thousands of fierce fighters. But the fog of history has left Red Cloud strangely obscured. Now, thanks to the rediscovery of a lost autobiography, and painstaking research by two award-winning authors, the story of the nineteenth century’s most powerful and successful Indian warrior can finally be told.

In this astonishing untold story of the American West, Bob Drury and Tom Clavin restore Red Cloud to his rightful place in American history in a sweeping and dramatic narrative based on years of primary research. As they trace the events leading to Red Cloud’s War, they provide intimate portraits of the many lives Red Cloud touched—mountain men such as Jim Bridger; US generals, like William Tecumseh Sherman, who were charged with annihilating the Sioux; fearless explorers, such as the dashing John Bozeman; and the memorable warriors whom Red Cloud groomed, like the legendary Crazy Horse. And at the center of the story is Red Cloud, fighting for the very existence of the Indian way of life. This is the definitive chronicle of the conflict between an expanding white population and the Plains Indians who stood in its way.

“Gripping.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Illuminating.” —Publishers Weekly

“Unabashed, unbiased, and disturbingly honest, leaving no razor-sharp arrowhead unturned, no rifle trigger unpulled. . . . a compelling and fiery narrative.” —USA Today

Ratings and reviews

This is not an 'untold story', but in this book there is a grossly misleading and incorrect story. This is mainstream big publishing's worst. They quite literally made things up in this book. (I dare one of the authors or the publisher to challenge me to a live public debate!) They should be embarrassed. Not since Little House on the Prairie have the Lakota and Cheyenne been so misrepresented. This garbage belongs in the 1950's. I'm sorry, I meant the trash. Historically and anthropologically, this is the worst book of all the books on Red Cloud, Red Cloud's War and the struggle for the Bozeman and Powder River country available to buy. It is genuinely sad to so many of us life long historians, researchers and aficionados of this complex period to see something as blatantly lazy and false get pushed in the unknowing public's face. Every time I see it get top billing at a bookstore, I grab a coffee and hang around it until someone looks interested and then politely sharing my passion and credentials for the subject, I lead them to something with accuracy and integrity. Trust me, NO ONE who knows the Plains Wars would recommend this book. What would someone like myself recommend? What would a room full of authors, researchers and anthropologists dedicated to the Plains Wars recommend to someone who doesn't know the story of Red Cloud and the war named after him? -Red Cloud's War: The Bozeman Trail, 1866-1868 (2 Volume Set), John D. McDermott -Red Cloud's Folk: A History of the Oglala Sioux Indians, George E. Hyde -Where a Hundred Soldiers Were Killed: The Struggle for the Powder River Country in 1866 and the Making of the Fetterman Myth, John H. Monnett

I think I expected more partiality to Red Cloud based on the title. Or perhaps impartiality to the Americanized viewpoint of the Indian wars. It was occasionally there but I suppose you have to write to your primary readers. I fully ascribe to the comment by the Chinese general on page 378, even in the full context of what that means to my own families history; who passed through many of the locations as settlers who finally landed near the Virginia City, MT referenced. Still a good and important read.

Great book solid objective writing.... One of the better books I've read about the war between the states and the Lakota people

About the author

Bob Drury is the author/coauthor/editor of nine books. He has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Men’s Journal, and GQ. He is currently a contributing editor and foreign correspondent for Men’s Health. He lives in Manasquan, New Jersey.