Gall Lakota War Chief

by Robert W. Larson

Called the "Fighting Cock of the Sioux" by the U.S. soldiers, Hunkpapa warrior Gall was a great Lakota chief who, along with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, resisted efforts by the U. S. government to annex the Black Hills. It was Gall, enraged by the slaughter of his family, who led a charge across Medicine Til Ford to attack Custer's main forces on the other side of the Little Bighorn.

Robert W. Larson now sorts through contrasting views that have depicted Gall as a shrewd pragmatist or a shameless opportunist, to determine the real character of this legendary Sioux. This first-ever scholarly biography also focuses on the actions Gall took during his final years on the reservation, unraveling his last fourteen years in order to better understand his previous forty.

Gall, Sitting Bull's most able lieutenant, accompanied him into exile in Canada. Once back on the reservation, he broke with his chief over Ghost Dance traditionalism and instead supported Indian agent James McLaughlin's more realistic agenda. Larson draws on rarely used Standing Rock Reservation records, as well as interviews with Gall's descendants, to gather new insights into his life, career, and legacy. Tracing Gall's evolution from a fearless warrior to a representative of his people, Larson shows that Gall contended with shifting political and military conditions and remained loyal to the interests of his tribe, but that in later years his achievements were praised in order to denigrate those of others-notably his former mentor Sitting Bull.

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