Red Cloud: A Lakota Story of War and Surrender

Award-winning author S. D. Nelson brings to light one of the most controversial members of the Lakota tribe:
Red Cloud
An illuminating picture book biography of the Lakota warrior and chief Red Cloud, from award-winning author
and illustrator S. D. Nelson
Red Cloud (1822–1909) was a great warrior and chief of the Lakota. Told from his perspective, Red Cloud: A
Lakota Story of War and Surrender describes the events that brought him to prominence as a leader of his
people and how he came to surrender them to the wasichus (White Man), ending their way of life on the Great
Plains.
From the intrusion of white settlers into Lakota territory, to the treaties signed with the U.S. government, and
to the many subsequent battles, Red Cloud explains how the Lakota became the only nation to win a war
against the U.S. Army on American soil. However, unlike fellow warriors Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, Red Cloud
eventually came to accept the inevitable advance of white civilization. He submitted to change and moved his
followers onto a reservation. The story concludes with Red Cloud’s trip to the East Coast, where he visited New
York City and met President Ulysses S. Grant.
Award-winning author and member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe S. D. Nelson reinterprets the nineteenth-century Lakota ledger-art style to give authenticity to the story as he brings to light one of the most
controversial members of the Lakota tribe, Red Cloud. Backmatter includes a timeline.