John Gregory Bourke kept a monumental set of diaries beginning 
as a young cavalry lieutenant in Arizona in 1872 and ending the 
evening before his death in 1896. As aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. 
George Crook, he had an insider’s view of the early Apache 
campaigns, the Great Sioux War, the Cheyenne Outbreak, and the 
Geronimo War. Bourke’s writings reveal much about military life 
on the Western frontier, but he also was a noted ethnologist, 
writing extensive descriptions of American Indian civilization and 
illustrating his diaries with sketches and photographs.

    Previously, researchers could consult only a small part of 
Bourke’s diary material in various publications or else take a 
research trip to the archive and microfilm housed at West Point. 
Now, for the first time, the 124 manuscript volumes of the Bourke 
diaries are being compiled, edited, and annotated by Charles M. 
Robinson III, in a planned set of six books easily accessible to the 
modern researcher.

     Volume 1 begins with Bourke’s years as aide-de-camp to 
General Crook during the Apache campaigns and in dealings with 
Cochise. Bourke’s ethnographic notes on the Apaches continued 
with further observations on the Hopis in 1874. The next year he 
turned his pen on the Sioux and Cheyenne during the 1875 Black 
Hills Expedition, writing some of his most jingoistic comments in 
favor of Manifest Destiny. This volume culminates with the 
momentous events of the Great Sioux War and vivid descriptions 
of the Powder River fight and the Battle of the Rosebud.

    Extensively annotated and with a biographical appendix on 
Indians, civilians, and military personnel named in the diaries, this 
book will appeal to Western and military historians, students of 
American Indian life and culture, and to anyone interested in the 
development of the American West.

_________________________________________________________

CHARLES M. ROBINSON III received his bachelor’s degree 
from St. Edward’s University and master’s from the University of 
Texas–Pan American and is a history instructor at South Texas 
Community College. He has written more than twelve books, 
including Bad Hand: A Biography of General Ranald S. 
Mackenzie (T. R. Fehrenbach Award) and The Court Martial of 
Lieutenant Henry Flipper (Spur Award finalist). Robinson has 
appeared on television documentaries for the Public Broadcasting 
System and the History Channel.



What people are saying about this book

"Robinson merits high praise for the herculean task of transcribing 
the entire diaries and remaining as faithful to the original text as 
possible. Publication of the series will be extremely useful for 
scholars of western America."—Robert Wooster, author, The 
Military and United States Indian Policy 1865–1903