In the summer of 1871 JW Dear met Red Cloud the leader of the Oglala who at that time was probably the most powerful and respected Indian chief in America. For the next twelve years the two men lived alongside each other on the vast Northern Plains. This was one of the most turbulent violent and controversial periods in the history of the American West. The end of the Civil War saw tens of thousands of emigrants brave the 2000mile journey across Indian territory in search of a better life in California and Oregon. It saw the coming of the transcontinental railroad across Indian land the wanton slaughter of millions of buffalo the Indians depended upon for survival the end of the fur trade the emergence of cattle barons and open range ranching the discovery of gold in the Black Hills of Dakota the Great Sioux War of 1876 Custeramprsquos last stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn and the forcing of the Lakota onto reservations.This book is about two men caught up in these momentous eventsampmdashRed Cloud whose life has been well researched and JW Dear whose story has never been told. It is a story about the openingup of the West and the process of nation building driven by great vision sacrifice and human endeavor. But it is also a story of mismanagement avarice corruption bigotry extreme violence and injustice.