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EXPLANATORY
No historian of
prominence should presume to ask the public to take his work as the last
word on the subject which it treats. There is bound to be some one who
will find inaccuracies and deficiencies, and the whole work may be
condemned on account of them. There never was a history written that is
absolutely correct, so I suppose mine must be a little off on a few
trivial matters. A deep student of the ethnology, phonology, psychology
and anthropology of the Sioux may (I say may advisedly) find these
defects. To him I offer no apologies, he has enough ologies now, and I
don't wish to burden him with more of them.
History is essentially
didactical, indeed it is, and we soon tire of its prosiness, its
unpicturesque display of data and long-winded statistics. However, there
are some individuals who are ultra-pedantic, and to whom nothing appeals
but what is strictly utilitarian. To such persons I commend certain
parts of this work, while to the others —the great majority—the balance
of it may prove entertaining. The absence of humor I greatly deplore,
for it just seems that I cannot think up anything funny. But the reader
may find a great deal to laugh about after all, if he is inclined to be
critical.
The old timers, God
bless 'em, always take an important part in an historical work. But they
seldom agree with each other. There is a psychological reason for this,
as there is for most anything we do not clearly understand. My
explanation of it is that they do not remember things with the same
degree of accuracy and reasoning power. Their view points were not
identical, so they fame away from the scene of historical interest with
a conception of what happened at variance with what oilier survivors
retained. Some day a historian may succeed in straightening these much
mooted matters out, but I have neither the time nor the patience to do
it. As it is I am presenting in this work an entertaining and very
nearly complete account of The Taming Of The Sioux.
The illustrations are
from original negatives made by me, and the drawings are by my young
friend Francis Zahn (Holy Star), a part Sioux of great talent.
Frank Fiske.
Old Fort Yates, N. D.
March 1st, 1917.
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