Eli Seavey Ricker (April 29, 1843 - May 17, 1926) was a corporal serving the Union Army during the American Civil War, newspaper editor, rancher, judge, and activist known for his support of Native Americans and other social causes.

[2] Ricker had been working as a journalist for a number of years already, reporting for the Knox County Observer and Galesburg Free Press.

[3] He enlisted in 1862, and served as a corporal in the 102nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the war, which took part in Sherman's March to the Sea.

He is most well known for his progressive views on Native Americans and the more than fifty interviews he did with various Native Americans, as well as scouts and settlers, recording various eyewitness accounts on events during the Indian Wars in the west, such as the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Wounded Knee Massacre.

He recorded this information for a book he planned on writing to be entitled "The Final Conflict between the Red Men and the Palefaces."