Traces the white man's conquest of the Indians of the American West, emphasizing the causes, events, and effects of the major Indian Wars leading to the symbolic end of Indian freedom at Wounded Knee.

"Published in hardcover in 1974 by Henry Holt and Company ; First Henry Holt paperback edition, 1993"--Title page verso.

Pt. 1. The Navahos and the Apaches : tribes of the southwest : The long walk of the Navahos -- Cochise and the Apache Guerrillas -- The last of the Apache Chiefs ; Pt. 2. The Cheyennes and the Sious : tribes of the Great Plains : War comes to the Cheyennes -- Powder River invasion -- Red Cloud's war -- "The only good Indian is a dead Indian" -- Red Cloud's visit to Washington -- The war for the Black Hills -- Cheyenne exodus -- Dance of the ghosts -- Wounded Knee.