General George Crook and the Western Frontier : University of Oklahoma Press : 9780806133584 : 0806133589 : 30 Dec 2001 : General George Crook was one of the most prominent soldiers in the frontier West. General William T. Sherman called him the greatest Indian fighter and manager the army ever had. And yet, on hearing of Crook's death, the Sioux chief Red Cloud lamented, "He, at least, never lied to us." As a young officer in the Pacific Northwest, Crook emphasized training and marksmanship--innovative ideas in the antebellum army. Crook's career in the West began with successful campaigns against the Apaches that resulted in his promotion to brigadier general. His campaign against the Lakota and Cheyennes was less successful, however, as he alternately displayed deep insight, egotism, indecision, and fear. Charles M. Robinson pieces together the contradictions of Crook's career to reveal that although the general sometimes micromanaged his campaigns to the point that his officers h