Wounded Knee, as it was first reported, and, as you've never read it. A sensational contemporary view of the events surrounding the Sioux outbreak of 1890 and 1891 that violently climaxed at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. These articles from the Omaha Bee represent some of the most widely read and published correspondence of that sanguinary winter. Until now, Will Cressey's on-scene dispatches have never appeared under a single cover. Step back 125 years into the past and experience the exhilaration and anguish that was the sting of the Bee. The language of the day was harsh and reflects the strong views that many Americans held of the native tribes following more than two and a half centuries of persistent conflict with the indigenous communities that first occupied the continent. To our twenty-first century sensibilities the articles and commentary are replete with racist and visceral remarks that provide an unvarnished perspective of life in the Midwest at the closing chapter of conflict with the American Indian. These news reports are provided to the western historian, Americana scholar, and Indian wars enthusiast as an unfiltered glimpse into an American tragedy that unfolded on the front pages of papers from the Atlantic to the Pacific a century and a quarter ago. To be sure, Will Cressey's specials were both criticized and acclaimed by his peers, and he was likely the most read war correspondent during that troubled time frame. The country's collective memory of Wounded Knee and the events that unfolded in the winter of 1890 and 1891 have been formed and reformed through conflicting accounts and historical analysis of that American tragedy. Returning to the pages of the newspapers of the day provides a valuable perspective of the events as they occurred in one of the most read papers of the Midwest. The sting of Edward Rosewater's Omaha Bee is a harsh, contemporary reflection of those events and their impact on a nation progressing toward the twentieth century.
About the Author: Sting of the Bee was meticulously compiled and edited by Samuel L. Russell, an Army Colonel with over 27 years of active service. He is currently assigned to the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute at Carlisle Barracks, PA, and is the author of ArmyAtWoundedKnee.com. Col. Russell graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He holds a Masters of Military Art and Science in history from the Army's Command and General Staff College and a Masters of Strategic Studies from the Army War College.