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A Lakota War Book from the Little Bighorn: The Pictographic “Autobiography of Half Moon.”

In A Ledger War Book from the Little Bighorn, Castle McLaughlin has meticulously unpacked the history and meaning of a Lakota/Cheyenne ledger. The book was found in a burial lodge inside a mail courier bag by a cavalryman the day after the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The trooper later gave the book to a journalist, who disassembled and rebound it in a contrived “Autobiography of Half Moon.” Although the history of the book is important, even more fascinating is McLaughlin’s contextualization of the volume and her analysis of the warrior produced images found within it. In the historic period, Plains warriors gained status through military exploits. Men, and some women, became recognized through the accumulation of war exploits. Due to the importance of what is commonly termed “coups” in social ranking, personal war records of Plains warriors were communicated through public orations and realistic visual representations. Even with variation between tribes, biographic warrior art was easily “read” by friend and enemy alike. This narrative writing was placed on robes, tipi linings and paper. These typically publicized individual military prowess and social standing. “Ledger art” was so named because the majority of the images were drawn in ledger books captured from, as in this case, or provided by Euro-Americans to Plains warriors. As McLaughlin points out, the early ledgers or “war books” were intended to be shared among fellow warriors. Later ledger pieces, however, were often commissioned by EuroAmericans and non-Indians, who were therefore the intended audience. War books were much more than simple recitations of individuals war honors, they were group compilations of experiences of men who shared membership in one of the Lakota/ Cheyenne military societies. The initial chapter provides an account of the document, followed by a carefully researched presentation of the history of the bands of Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho that chose to resist the Western Expansion in what historians often identify as the first phase of the Plains Indian Wars or Red Cloud’s War. This extraordinary analysis allows the reader to understand the political and military developments that war with the United States brought to Plains peoples. Part two places the ledger in the context of other known war books and includes analysis of the composition of the drawings, including commentary on the material used to create them and analysis of the components and events of each drawing. Through extensive examination of the internal evidence, such as how each artist drew people or horses, McLaughlin is able to recognize six artists who contributed to the overall book. She identifies each with a letter and through careful research of items drawn and events depicted by each she is able to tease out important information. Such as Artist A was a warrior of mixed heritage, both Lakota and Cheyenne. Artist B, the Blue RoanWarrior, McLaughlin postulates, is likely the Minneconjou war leader Hump. Artists C and D were probably Heyokas, or contrary warriors. Artist D, as McLaughlin convincingly argues, was likely the famous Heyoka Crazy Horse. Artist D depicts himself killing two soldiers in December of 1866, which Native witnesses to the event identified as Crazy Horse. In addition, the yellow body paint and the lightning streaks down his horse’s legs show that the rider was a “thunder dreamer.” Crazy Horse plains anthropologist, Vol. 59 No. 230, May, 2014, 203–204