Half Breed

Description

This is the first person story of a man with an Oglala Sioux warrior father, Crow Killer, one of the four shirt-wearers under Crazy Horse who kidnaps a white girl and uses her as one of his three wives. His two Sioux wives have borne him only daughters, but the white girl gives him a son, called Son of Crow Killer. The girl’s white husband pays a reward to the cavalry to get her back and they bring her and the little boy back to her white family. The white husband hates the boy and calls him names. Finally the white girl’s white mother comes to get him and takes him to her home in New Orleans where he is given a good education, finally graduating from Louisiana State University, which is the college and military academy designed and built by William Tecumseh Sherman before the Civil War. Known as an excellent linguist, speaking his Oglala, some Crow, Cheyenne, and expert in the hand-sign of the Plains Indians, he is hired as a linguist by General Nelson Miles, also working with General George Custer. He goes out with the Custer/Terry expedition to defeat Sitting Bull’s large army, but on the Steamboat he meets a young doctor who convinces the Captain of the boat that Tom would be of great use on board the boat as they await the great battle at the Little Big Horn. Custer reluctantly agrees so Tom is not killed with the rest of Custer’s Crow and Arikara scouts, but rather works helping to save the lives of the wounded men and help get them back to Fort Lincoln. Tom’s life is filled with a great deal of work, especially serving General Miles in numerous campaigns against the plains Indians. Tom keeps his journal faithfully, so that he will always remember his beloved Oglala father. On one of those many adventures with Miles, he sees his father die on the ground, killed by Miles’ soldiers. Eventually Tom gets back to his regular office job in the main office at Fort Lincoln, where he gets to work with and grow to deeply respect and love the young doctor, Marcus, now his best friend. He also eventually seeks a wife, and somewhat to his surprise he finds three–when he marries the old sister, her two younger sisters expect to live as his other wives. Tom is delighted with his new family, and is especially happy with the four little children they give him three little girls and a beautiful son. His wives go to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to care for dying relatives, and there at Wounded Knee Creek, all his wives and children are among those executed by Mile’s army, specifically the survivers of Custer’s 7th Cavalry. He suffers intensely, finally dreaming of his father who tells him to go kill Miles. But that is a heroic task, and finally he cannot do it, but goes back to Fort Lincoln to take up his job as Mile’s linguist and writer. He suffers a nervous breakdown, goes off wandering in the prairie wilderness, drinking much whiskey and indulging in self-pity. Finally he goes back to the fort, where he finds Marcus now married to a lovely white woman. Marcus convinces him to come live with them. Marcus dies of cancer, leaving his wife, Julie, pregnant. Julie and Tom marry and have children. They live for a time with Capt. Grant March where Tom is his office manager of the steamboat company. But March wants to move on in his fight against the wild Missouri River. So Tom and Julie homestead on a reservation near fort Randall. There they raise a fine family of four children, a girl the daughter of Marcus, two boys who want to be cowboys, and a younger girl who is a very talented artist. The artist goes to Vassar College, where she becomes a well-known artist. When World War I comes, the two boys enlist in the Marines with many other Indian boys. The younger son is killed in the awful battle of Belleau Woods. The old son stays in the Corps. The youngest girl comes home to care for Tom. She brings her homosexual lover there and they make a successful life of art and writing. Tom happily lives with them. s