Chapters 5-7 Summary and Analysis

By this time, the author is focused more upon the political and military climate of the region.

The young Curly has become Crazy Horse—a source of confusion as his father bears the same name.

In chapter 4, readers are introduced to the white-red conflict as it appeared on the Plains. There were military garrisons of the US government. There were trails of settlers from the East and Europe making their way through the territory. The natives had their own needs and desires. There was internal cultural strife between those who would hang around near to where the white man had forts, supply lines and goods that they could not get from anyone else.

The author explains a great deal more about the cultural differences. The white man, more than harboring simple hostility towards the red man, mainly wanted the...