One of the most enjoyable parts of writing this novel was creating the personalities of the characters in my story. As I wrote, the characters grew in my mind and became very real to me, almost as the real as the flesh and blood people in my life. When I had to edit my work down, it was difficult to remove even minor characters. I had become so engaged with them that I hated to lose them. My hope was that my readers would become just as engaged with the characters in my story so that they were eager to see what happens to them next. Hopefully, if you are reading this blog post, then I have been successful in that endeavor.
Most of the characters in my book were real people, so I had some biographical data to work with as a starting point. Little Crow was a famous chief and several biographies have been written about him. Lorenzo Lawrence published a memoir, and John Otherday’s exploits were well known. Of the four, we know the least about Cut Nose. I tried to avoid stereotypical villains but came close to that with Cut Nose. I gave him a surly, antisocial nature, but in truth I do not really know much about his personal traits or his relationship with others. His brutal attacks on civilians were typical of many Dakota warriors and not at all outrageous in their eyes since the Dakota did not recognize noncombatants. What I found most interesting about his story was that he did not retreat to the west after the Battle of Wood Lake and made no excuses for his actions as so many others did. I am not really sure what this tells us about him. He boasted about his actions at his trial. Perhaps he was proud of what he had done or was just self-destructive. We will never know.
I portrayed John Otherday as a pragmatist who could see that the Dakota way of life was ending and was determined to make the best of it. Generally, his actions support this assessment. For example, although he was a very eligible bachelor, he married a white woman. He met her when the Dakota chiefs traveled to Washington D.C. to sign the treaty of 1858. There were rumors that he met his wife in a brothel, which may or may not be true. However, like the rest of the chiefs, he could not have helped being impressed by the power of the Americans, and perhaps he believed that marrying a white woman would be politically advantageous. In any case, that is what one would have gathered from my story. There is no question that the actions he took to save the lives of the whites at the Upper Agency were heroic. Did he do it out of pure altruism or to curry favor with the whites? Perhaps it was a bit of both, and no doubt he wanted to protect his family as well. He was definitely highly rewarded for his actions.
I also portrayed Otherday as someone who liked to cultivate the impression that he was a man of mystery. This is totally my invention, not based on any historical information. However, there are some things about Otherday that remain a mystery to me, not the least of which was his choice of surname, for which I have never found any explanation. Also, I have always wondered why he failed as a farmer after the war when he was successful prior. Did he actually fail or did he simply miss his life as a Dakota? In any case, my assessment of Otherday, regardless of his motives, is that he was an intelligent, resourceful, and courageous man who saw the folly of war with the whites and acted accordingly.
Unlike Otherday and Cut Nose, Lorenzo Lawrence left a written record of his life, so I am fairly certain that my portrayal of his personality is reasonably accurate. He had a deep religious conviction and was devoted to the missionaries and their church. His dedication to his religion left him no real choice when it came to war or peace with the Americans, and he seemed to see no conflict between loyalty to his people and peace with the white man. In many ways he was a truly admirable man, and I made no attempt to develop his character any other way.
For Little Crow I had a good deal of biographical information with which to work. However, unlike Lorenzo Lawrence, he left no personal record behind. I know nothing of his inner thoughts and had to rely on his actions and the perceptions of others to build his personality. Nonetheless, I think I understand him. Little Crow lived at a time of unprecedented changes for the Dakota, and for the most part he adapted successfully to those changes. Most whites considered him to be a “civilized” Indian. Most Dakota thought of him as a true leader, a warrior chief of the old school. He grudgingly accepted the former but craved the latter. I am convinced that had it been left up to him, there would have been no war. He had seen the power of the Americans and was no fool. Yet, when the choice of war or peace was forced upon him, against his own logic he chose the role of warrior chief. As events unfolded, he had his doubts, but when he realized that the die was cast, he did everything in his power to make something from a lost cause. He failed, but not for lack of trying. Little Crow saw himself as a leader, and that is what leaders do. He was both admirable and foolish, neither hero nor villain. As Grey Bird explained to Wowinape: in a flood of defeat, Little Crow was the largest log.
