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Showing posts with label
Wind River Reservation Series.
Show all posts
Showing posts with label
Wind River Reservation Series.
Show all posts
The whole town of
Lander has turned out for the big parade celebrating the start of the
new rodeo season. The main spectacle this year is the appearance of
Colonel Edward Garrett—a spot-on impersonator of General George
Armstrong Custer—and a troop of men acting as the ill-fated Seventh
Cavalry.
The problem is they are being followed by a group of
Arapaho warriors from the Wind River Reservation, who proceed to
encircle Garrett and his men in a "dare ride" just to remind them
exactly who won the Battle of the Little Bighorn. But when the ride is
over, history seems to have repeated itself: Garrett is dead in the
street with a bullet hole in his chest.
No one is sure what
happened, but public sentiment quickly turns against the Arapaho—and the
prime suspect is Colin Morningside, a descendant of Crazy Horse. When a
local attorney connected to Morningside disappears, the accusations
only grow stronger.
Father John O’Malley knows in his heart the
Arapaho are not guilty. And Vicky Holden finds herself professionally
and personally compromised from getting involved. But what begins as a
murder soon reveals itself as a conspiracy that neither Father John nor
Vicky could have foreseen. And someone wants to ensure that the truth
they discover will die with them.
Opinions of Custer? Take Your Choice
By Margaret Coel
Author of Killing Custer and the Wind River Mysteries
"There aren't enough Indians in the world to defeat the Seventh Cavalry." So said General George Armstrong Custer before leading his troops to their deaths at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. Even in death, the boy general who, according to his fans, practically won the Battle of Gettysburg single-handedly, remains as outrageous, controversial, impetuous, and divisive as he was in life. There are countless opinions on Custer, and since Killing Custer was published, I have heard them all. Readers call him a true, brave American hero, a megalomaniacal, self-serving fool and everything in between.
My purpose in writing Killing Custer was not to settle historical controversies. My ambitions were modest. I wanted to write an entertaining mystery about the way the past - in this case, Custer's actions on the plains - influences the present. What interested me were the opinion about Custer that I had heard over the years from Arapaho friends on the Wind River Reservation. Only a few Arapahos fought at the Little Bighorn, but Custer's actions had impacted all of the Plains Indians. Like the other tribes, Arapahos have never forgotten him.
Eight years before the battle, the Seventh Cavalry had atacked a village of Cheyennes on the Washita River in present-day Oklahoma. The village was under Chief Black Kettle, a noted peace chief. Not far away was a camp of hostile Cheyennes with armed warriors. Had Custer attacked that camp, he would have gotten the fight of his life and might not have survived to go on to the Little Bighorn. Instead he waded into a peaceful village. Afterward, he gathered up the surviving women and allowed his men to take their choice. He chose the most beautiful woman, Monahsetah, for himself. When she became pregnant, he sent her back to the Cheyennes. Did he give her a horse? Send her out onto the plains by herself? Hope she would stumble upon a village? Not care whether she did? No one knows. But the Indians say that she bore a son, called Yellow Hair, and that today, Custer's descendants are among the Cheyennes.
After Washita, the opinion of the Plains Indians hardened against Custer as he continued to lead expeditions and attack villages. The story I heard is that the Cheyennes "put their pipes out on Custer's heels." History books contain different accounts of this story, but my Arapaho friends say it meant that, from Washita on, the Cheyennes followed Custer across the plains. Waiting. Waiting. The waiting ended on a wind-swept hill above the Little Bighorn river. Custer was under orders to meet up with other troops before launching an attack against the Indians, orders he chose to ignore. The camp in the river valley was, said one scout, "the biggest bunch of Indians he had ever seen," certain to have a couple of thousand warriors. After dividing his command, Custer had only 210 men under his immediate command. He attacked.
What followed was mayhem, disaster, death and finally, no doubt, the same eerie sound of the wind swishing the tall grass that suffuses the site today. Custer and his men lay dead. The Indian women swarmed over the hillside. All the pent up fury, anger and sorrow over the lost relatives at Washita, the lost lands, the lost ways of the ancestors, the women released on the bodies of the dead cavalry troops.
There was no victory celebration that night. Only the pitiful keening of the women as they packed up what was left of the camp and moved off. The keening could be heard over a great distance, the Indians say. All the tribes - Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho - knew they had won a victory, but they had lost a war.
Margaret Coel is the New York
Times bestselling, award-winning author of the acclaimed novels
featuring Father John O'Malley and Vicky Holden, as well as several
works of nonfiction. Originally a historian by trade, she is considered
an expert on the Arapaho Indians.
This series never ceases to amaze me. Ms. Coel is a brilliant storyteller with an amazing ability to weave the past with the present. In Killing Custer, the sweet justice that the Plains Indians felt when Custer died is brought to the forefront when a reenactment of that historical day is brought to life all over again. And through a crazy series of events, Father John O'Malley and Vicky Holden find themselves in the middle of a conspiratorial murder investigation unlike anything they've ever seen before!
It's a thrilling ride, with twists and turns, and one heck of a fantastic murder mystery! Margaret Coel is a master at what she does, and it shows with her historical knowledge of the Arapaho Indians. She brings these people to life with her unique story telling and her creative literary talent. I just love this book and series, and hope that others will embark on the incredible journey of the Wind River Reservation books.
Rating: 5 stars
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All conclusions reached are my own.
Thanks to the awesome ladies at Penguin, I have 1 paperback copy of Killing Custer
by Margaret Coel to give away to one of my lucky readers! Just enter
the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win, and be sure to keep
checking back for more awesome giveaways!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
With her gritty mysteries steeped in authentic Native American culture, New York Times bestselling author Margaret Coel is “widely considered the most accomplished heir to Tony Hillerman’s legacy,” (Scripps Howard News Service). In
the latest Wind River novel, Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and Father
John O’Malley confront a ruthless killer in the wake of a miraculous
event.
A mysterious penitent confesses to murder,
and then flees the confessional before Father John can identify him. Two
months later, Vicky discovers rancher Dennis Carey shot dead in his
truck along Blue Sky Highway. With the tragic news comes the exposure of
an astonishing secret: the most sacred creature in Native American
mythology, a white buffalo calf, was recently born on Carey’s ranch.
Making national headlines, the miraculous animal draws a flood of
pilgrims to the reservation, frustrating an already difficult
investigation. As visitors throw the reservation into turmoil, Vicky and
Father John try to unravel the strange events surrounding both Carey’s
murder and the recent disappearances of three cowboys from his ranch.
It could be coincidence, given the nomadic life of the cowboy trade,
but when one of them fails to appear in court to testify on an assault
charge, Vicky wonders if Arnie Walkfast and his Arapaho buddies are
guilty of more than just assault. And at the back of Father John’s mind
is the voice from the man in the confessional: I killed a man.
A white buffalo? Where did that idea come from?
For me, the idea for a novel just arrives. One day I don't know what I might write, and the next day, I have an IDEA. It is just as Willie Nelson said when he was asked where ideas for his songs came from. Ideas float around in the universe, according to Willie, and from time to time one of them drops into his head.
Ideas for novels don't usually drop into my head fully blown. They come in bits and pieces. For years I have enjoyed visiting friends on the Wind River Reservation who run a buffalo ranch. I've ridden a flatbed out into the pasture at feeding time, holding on for dear life as the buffalo herd pounded toward us and my friend forked off bales of hay. I've watched a buffalo calf being born. I've heard lots of stories about living with a buffalo herd in your pasture. They can jump higher than deer, run like lightning, break through the toughest fences. They are always wild - always themselves. You can't change buffalo, modernize them, domesticate them, turn them into pets, or make them other than who they are. There is something wonderful about that wildness that I wanted to write about.
I had also read about the spiritual connection between the buffalo and the Plains Indians. They see the buffalo as a gift from the Creator to sustain their lives, which was certainly the case in the Old Time when buffalo provided all of life's necessities: food, clothing, shelter, tools. (Buffalo meat is delicious!) And the birth of a white buffalo calf is considered a sign from the Creator that he has not forgotten his people, that he is still with them. It is a momentous event that can bring pilgrims from all over and chance lives. So bits and pieces of ideas slowly coalesced into the idea for Night of the White Buffalo.
So I had the idea. Then what? I begin every novel by asking the "what if?" questions. What if a white buffalo calf were born on the reservation? What if this sacred animal were born on a ranch run by whites? What if the white rancher is shot to death? What if thousands of people come to see the white calf? What if the reservation is turned upside-down, Arapaho against white, Arapaho against Arapaho? What if Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley find themselves in the midst of the chaos? The story came from the answers to those questions.
And in the end, I think the novel turned out to be what I had wanted it would be. A story that revolves around the culture and spiritual beliefs of the Arapaho, but is a mystery - a twisting, surprising, page-turning one, I hope.
Margaret Coel is the New York
Times bestselling, award-winning author of the acclaimed novels
featuring Father John O'Malley and Vicky Holden, as well as several
works of nonfiction. Originally a historian by trade, she is considered
an expert on the Arapaho Indians.
The amount of knowledge and research that goes in to one of Ms. Coel's books is astounding. She is an amazing storyteller and always has some of the most intriguing characters in her books. The Wind River Reservation series puts the Arapaho people in focus, and delivers very powerful, strong stories through the eyes of Father John O'Malley and Vicky Holden.
In Night of the White Buffalo, the history behind the rare creature is enough to keep you reading. But the events that occur around the birth of this remarkable animal keeps the storyline driving and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Page after page, Ms. Coel delivers a wonderful mystery and continues to amaze with this long running series.
I will definitely be seeking out the next book that's in store for us!
Rating: 5 stars
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All conclusions reached are my own.
Thanks to the awesome ladies at Penguin, I have 1 paperback copy of Night of the White Buffalo
by Margaret Coel to give away to one of my lucky readers! Just enter
the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win, and be sure to keep
checking back for more awesome giveaways!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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