Description

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“A valuable chronicle of the greatness and majesty of the Indian chiefs.”—Christian Science Monitor
 
Told through the life stories of nine Indian chiefs, this narrative depicts the American Indian effort to preserve a heritage and resist the changes brought by the white man. Hiawatha, King Philip, Popé, Pontiac, Tecumseh, Osceola, Black Hawk, Crazy Horse, and Chief Joseph each represent different tribal backgrounds, different times and places, and different aspects of Indian leadership. Soldiers, philosophers, orators, and statesmen, these leaders were the patriots of their people. Their heroic and tragic stories comprise an integral part of American history.
 
“Josephy tells his nine lives with . . . a cold-blooded historian’s perspective, sorrowing for both white man and red.”—Time
 
“More than a series of biographical sketches . . . Josephy places his Indian heroes in a broad historical setting and pictures them as fighters for freedom in the American tradition.”—The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

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Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., a leading historian of the American West, was the author of many award-winning books, including The Patriot Chiefs, The Indian Heritage of America, Now That the Buffalo's Gone, The Civil War in the American West, 500 Nations, and A Walk Toward Oregon. He was a vice president and editor of American Heritage magazine, the founding chairman of the board of trustees of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, and president of the Western History Association. Josephy died in the fall of 2005.