Moon Of Bitter Cold

Moon of Bitter Cold

From BooklistFrontier novelist Chiaventone turns his attention to a largely overlooked conflict between the U.S. Army and the Plains Indians. Fought between 1866 and 1868, Red Cloud's War was precipitated by the construction of three military forts along the Bozeman Trail in the Wyoming Territory. Though abrasive and controversial, Red Cloud, a Lakota chief, manages to forge an unlikely alliance among the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Crow nations. Banding together under the leadership of Red Cloud, the tribes handed the U.S. Army a stunning defeat at Fort Phil Kearney. Dubbed the Fetterman Massacre after the foolish captain who fell into Red Cloud's trap, leading his men to certain slaughter, this initial battle ushered in one of the bloodiest eras in the annals of westward expansion. In 1868, peace talks resulted in a series of startling concessions by the U.S. government to the Plains tribes. The author's realistic representation of the major historical players results in a balanced account of a savage cultural clash. Margaret FlanaganCopyright