A chronology of Plains Indians using their love for horses as a key vehicle to their successful life on the Great Plains of North America.

This book is refreshingly presented from the Plains Indians side of history. Presented with vintage photographs by Edward S. Curtis and Walter McClintock, along side artifacts and present photos by William Munoz.

Eight chapters beginning with Chapter 1- Living in the Dog Days  tells of life on the plains before Columbus and the Spanish bringing horses to North America. Dogs pulling travois were used to help the people follow the herds before horses were introduced to America.  Chapter 2- The Miraculous Horse tells of the ill treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards. The Indians were frightened of these never before seen animals at first. Over the years, horses broke free from the Spaniards in some places and in other places the Indians acquired horses after driving the Spaniards off. The horse would now slowly work its way across the Plains as wild horses or by being traded between tribes. Once this began, Plains life became more mobile because horses could travel further, faster, and carry more with travois and dogs could carry. Chapter 3-More Than a Hundred Years of Horse Culture tells of  buffalo hunting, war horses,  horse-stealing raids, and the white encroachment of the Plains.  Then, in  Chapter 6-Tragedies Strike and Chapter 7- Life Between Two Worlds deal with separating the Indians from their horses. Much of this history is about Indians without their horses.  “The authorities believed that Indians without horses would be easier to control…” ( p. 65)  Indians are now on reservations, children are going to boarding schools, and some Indians are earning money performing in Wild West Shows around the country and in Europe. Chapter 8- Indians and Horses Today brings us to 1934 with the appointment of a new commissioner for Indian Affairs and the passing of the Indian Reorganization Act. Indians are allowed to own horses again. This leads up to the year 1986 when THE BIG FOOT Memorial Ride is begun in memory of the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890.  The book closes with, “As they continue their efforts to keep their culture vibrant and meaningful in today’s world, the Plains tribes will always be sure to include their most important animal partner– the horse– in their plans and in their dreams.”  (p. 93)