The American Civil War was a big war, in many ways: geographic extent, the size of the armies involved, the number of casualties, the economic cost, and its profound effect on the culture and politics of the United States. It is of course important for students to understand the overall flow of this big war. But a detailed look at some part of the war, via historical fiction, can enhance this understanding by seeing how the war affected people at the individual level. It is also fascinating to become familiar with a little-known part of the war west of the Mississippi. Rifles for Watie, by Harold Keith, is a Newbery Award-winning (in 1958) young adult (YA) novel whose hero, Jeff, is a young man in the Union cavalry. The heroine is a young well-to-do Cherokee woman from a prosperous family, Lucy, who is part of the Five Civilized Nations in Indian Territory, which was composed mostly of what is now Oklahoma. The Civilized Nations were Native American groups who had assimilated thoroughly into American culture and had built churches, schools, farms, industry, newspapers, and a comfortable life. Unfortunately, some of these groups owned slaves and thus threw in their lot with the doomed Confederacy. General Stand Watie was a real person, one of their generals who plays a role in the book, buying Spencer repeating rifles through a traitorous Union officer.
This book is an exciting read, containing cavalry action, romance across cultural and battle lines, treachery, and bravery. While writing his book in the years before 1958, Harold Keith was able to interview many Civil War veterans, lending verisimilitude to his story. Rifles for Watie gives a clear look at both Union and Confederate soldiers and civilians, showing that both sides of this bitter war were human, were Americans, and were from a Christian culture. The background and motivations of the war itself may have been sharply defined – slavery – but the individual people involved were, like real people, complex and greatly influenced by their geographical and cultural surroundings.