Plainsmen Series

“Terry Johnston is an authentic American treasure.”—Loren D. Estleman, author of Edsel

As swirling snows fall from a leaden sky and a deadly winter approaches, two bitter enemies meet in a season of savage vengeance. Scout Seasmus Donegan—wondering whether he will ever return to Fort Laramie and the warm embrace of his wife and newborn son—is now under the command of Colonel Nelson A. Miles, who pushes his war-weary troops up the Tongue River into butte country. There, amid the rugged, snow-covered bluffs awaits Crazy Horse with a fighting force of Lakota braves one thousand strong. Gathering in the high, cold canyons, these courageous warriors prepare to engage Colonel Miles and the Fifth U.S. Infantry . . . one last chance for the proud Lakota to shape their own destiny, the last battle Crazy Horse will ever fight against the white man’s army.

After a terrible summer of blood and fire, scout Seamus Donegan finally has reason to rejoice: his wife, Samantha, has given birth to his first son. But the time to celebrate new life is short . . . for the old business of death continues. Phil Sheridan has gathered his officers at Fort Laramie for a war council to prepare the winter campaign. His objective: capture Crazy Horse, the elusive Sioux warrior chief whose exploits have put the U.S. cavalry to shame. Sending his scouts ahead—men such as Seamus Donegan and the legendary Yellowstone Kelly—Sheridan will march his armies north into the valley of the Red Fork of the Crazy Woman Creek . . . and into a battle that will prove as brutal and bitter as the killing winter winds.

Praise for Terry C. Johnston

“Johnston is an authentic American treasure.”—Loren D. Estleman, author of Edsel
 
“Terry C. Johnston has emerged as the great frontier historical novelist of his generation.”—Paul Andrew Hutton, author of Phil Sheridan and His Army

“Terry Johnston is an authentic American treasure.”—Loren D. Estleman, author of Edsel

It was a day that shocked a nation. June 25, 1876. The day General George Armstrong Custer fell at Little Big Horn. Now the U.S. Army is on the march. Vowing revenge, its commanders have declared total war on the Cheyenne and Sioux. Every able-bodied man must answer the call of the cavalry trumpet . . . men such as frontiersman Buffalo Bill Cody and scout Seamus Donegan. From the Black Hills to Slim Buttes, from Yellowstone to Warbonnet Creek, some would succumb to ambush, some to starvation, others to disease and even madness. Under the blood-red sun of that terrible summer, Seamus Donegan prays only to survive . . . to return to his wife, Samantha, and witness the birth of their first child.

“This account of battle on the plains brings the period to life.”—Publishers Weekly

Spring, 1876. The war cry has sounded. The Sioux and the Cheyenne are massing along the northern frontier. And even while his wife awaits the birth of their child, army scount Seamus Donegan knows he must head north to Fort Fetterman. Brigadier General George C. Crook is preparing to meet the fierce challenge laid down by the bold and brutal chief Crazy Horse, and the future hope of the nation rests in the strong hands and courageous hearts of men like Seamus Donegan. He yearns for a reunion with his wife, but the trail of that fateful campaign leads Donegan ever farther from home—toward the land of the Rosebud and a hard rain of blood and tears.