Off to the Frontiers of New France for awhile

By David Wrolson

My plan for the next while going forward is to dig into the early French contacts with the Sioux and related areas. I need to do some research into this area to see how everything fits together as I don't know enough about it.

Don't expect a lot of posts for the next while as spring field work starts soon and I need to learn a lot more about the French era.

I can't do much do much for awhile anyway on things like the Dakota Uprising/Fort Snelling and the campaigns in the Dakotas and points west as I would like to visit those sites for context and pictures and those sites don't really open up till Mid-May or later.

I really think "The Smoke of the Sioux" will be better over time if I get a good handle on the French era first. So off I go, into 17th and 18th Century New France and the frontiers beyond it for awhile.

I have had Francis Parkman's History of New France on my list for awhile and, surprisingly, the index has a large number of entries for "Sioux", so Parkman beckons.

Louis L'amour's Great-Grandfather Killed at the Battle of Big Mound

I was wrong in the previous post when I said I thought that Louis L'amour's Great-Grandfather was killed at the Battle of Whitestone Hill. It turns out that he was killed in a skirmish surrounding the Battle of Big Mound instead.

It is widely reported that during the opening sequences of the Battle of Big Mound that Lieutenent Ambrose Freeman (L'amour's Great-Grandfather) and George Brackett, a civilian contractor, were off hunting antelope and were joined by some friendly Dakota. Subsequently, they were attacked by a war party of other Sioux and Freeman was killed.

We will discuss the Battle of Big Mound in future posts, but this appears to be one of those battles in the1863 campaign that involved the Dakota, Nakota and Lakota tangling with the soldiers.

Interestingly, this battle took place well east of the Missouri River and Sitting Bull is often placed as being at the Battle of Big Mound and other battles in this area.

It is somewhat odd to think of Sitting Bull fighting US soldiers well east of the Missouri River in 1863. These battles are obviously overshadowed by events at places like Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Chickamauga.