McDermott recounts how the discovery of gold in Montana in 1863 led to the opening of the 250-mile route from Fort Laramie to the goldfields near Virginia City, and the fortification of this route with three military posts. The road crossed the Powder River Basin, the last, best hunting grounds of the Northern Plains tribes. Oglala chief Red Cloud and his allies mounted a campaign of armed resistance against the army and Montana-bound settlers. Among a host of small but bloody clashes were such major battles as the Fetterman Disaster, the Wagon Box Fight, and the Hayfield Fight, all of them famous in the annals of the Indian Wars. McDermott's spellbinding narrative offers a cautionary tale of hubris and mis-calculation. The United States Army suffered one setback after another; what reputation for effectiveness it had gained during the Civil War dissipated in the skirmishing in faraway Big Horn country.

V. 1. The situation -- The people and the place -- Carrington's march to Fort Laramie -- 1866 treaty -- When they are the thickest -- Fortifying the Bozeman Trail -- The siege begins -- Organization and defense -- Construction and inspection -- The action continues -- Fort dedicated -- Fetterman arrives -- The December 6 fight -- Laying the trap -- Into the valley of death -- Finding the dead -- Portugee Phillips -- Retrieval and burial -- Aftermath and response -- Relief and release -- Carrington's saga -- Fort C.F. Smith -- The Montana militia -- Peace efforts and the Joint Indian Commission. V. 2. Springtime in the Rockies -- Court of inquiry -- Peace efforts continue -- Change of command -- Hayfield fight -- The relief party -- We were not friends -- Eight hours in hell -- The Great Plains Peace Commission -- The Crows and the peace commission -- Shurly's fight and Burt's skirmish -- Year's end, 1867 -- January negotiations -- Bozeman Trail rescinded -- Fort Laramie treaty -- Tribes coming in -- Abandonment -- A prison without walls -- Conclusions.