In a poignant drama of heroism, treachery and violence, John Edwards Weems eloquently recounts yet another chapter of US history: the closing decades of the nineteenth century which marked the last of the Indian wars, those bloody years when Western expansion changed forever the face of the American continent; when railroads and 'civilization' brought about the end of the American Indian's way of life, which over the centuries had evolved into one of complete harmony with the native land; when millions of free-ranging buffalo were exterminated; when the white domination of America was finally achieved at a cost of human lives and natural resources that was to leave permanent scars.

History to Mr. Weems is a story of people and through this narrative stride several prominent nineteenth century Americans --- both white and Indian --- whose lives were caught up in this blind clash of cultures. In the ironic intertwining of these lives Mr. Weems traces the irreconcilable values of each culture, the long series of revenges which made compromise impossible, and the origin of a spirit of bitterness which continues to haunt us today.