George Bird Grinnell

The Cheyenne were one of the most important Native American tribes of the Great Plains. Through the course of the nineteenth century they became involved in some of the bloodiest conflicts to occur in the heart of the American continent. They were swift in the adoption of horse culture and quickly became skilled and powerful mounted warriors. Men would gain rank within their society by performing and accumulating various acts of bravery in battle,...

Before the white men came, there was a natural beauty in the land and the lives of the Plains Indians that will never be again. These people lived together, hunted the buffalo and the deer, fought their enemies, and developed a unique wisdom-- almost a philosophy-- for their own simple existence. As it was incorporated into the daily lives of these people, this tribal wisdom became tribal tradition. Indian children early learned the ways of their...

"George Bird Grinnell was a prolific writer and record-keeper. After a long day's hunt or exploration, he diligently made time in camp for meticulous journal entries. With his small group of explorers, he discovered and named forty geological features east of the Continental Divide and west of the Blackfeet Reservation. As a result, he wrote a series of articles about his trips from 1885 to 1898 for publication in Forest and Stream. In 1891, he began...

Includes nine mystery tales told by Pawnee, Blackfoot, and Cheyenne storytellers in the late nineteenth century.