What is the song Gerryowen and how does it bind together various aspects of the story?

How is Philip Sheridan's wedding in Chicago prove a turning point in the novel?

How does Flashy relate to "the Firsts"—the pioneers who head West when virtually nothing man made stands between St. Louis and San Francisco? How does he regard the passing of the frontier?

Is Susie Willinck a noble person? If so, what constitutes her nobility? If not, what makes her ignoble?

Would Flashy agree with Sheridan's saying, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian?" What (if any) good does he see in the Indian view and practice of life?

What role does Kit Carson play in the novel?

What role does Ulysses S. Grant play in the novel?

If the way he comes upon his biological father had been otherwise—had...