Father Francis M. Craft, missionary to the Sioux

Author / Creator

Foley, Thomas W., 1931-2013

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Summary

"Of all the western frontier figures who played a role in the lives of the Sioux, perhaps none was more intriguing, eccentric, or controversial than Father Francis M. Craft (1852-1920). Bayoneted a...

"Of all the western frontier figures who played a role in the lives of the Sioux, perhaps none was more intriguing, eccentric, or controversial than Father Francis M. Craft (1852-1920). Bayoneted at the battle of Gettysburg, trained in medicine, and a former mercenary in the Franco-Prussian War and the Cuban Ten Years' War, Father Craft was equally fearless and compassionate, impatient and astute. Part Mohawk and called "Hovering Eagle" by the Sioux, he was not reluctant to speak his mind or even resort to fisticuffs with his charges, but he also was remembered by Black Elk as a "very good man, and not like the other Wasichus [white people].""

"Father Craft ministered to the Sioux for two decades during the turbulent years after Sitting Bull surrendered at Fort Buford in 1881. Serving at different times on the Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Standing Rock, and Fort Berthold Reservations, he became famous when he was severely injured at Wounded Knee in 1890. Following his recovery, he struggled to found an Indian order of nuns that could minister to the needs of the Sioux, and he railed against government policies that, he contended, encouraged the corruption and degradation of Indians."--Cover.

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