From 1948 through 1996, Dee Brown wrote thirty-four books, fiction, non-fiction, and memoir. I am slowly working my way through his oeuvre. He is an acclaimed chronicler of the American West, particularly the conflicts between white men and aboriginal tribes, with his Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee being widely lauded for exposing the systematic destruction of American Indian tribes to a world audience.
Brown’s novel, Cavalry Scout, has the historical accuracy of his histories blended with a romance between John Singleterry, (a former Confederate army officer now serving as an army scout) and Marisa (a mixed-race woman living with the Cheyenne). As he falls in love with her, John becomes conflicted for two reasons: he’s about to become engaged to his colonel’s daughter and, as he spends more time with the Cheyenne, he begins to understand how poorly treated they have been by Sardis Pender, the unscrupulous Indian agent. The tribe, led by Red Eagle, is marched from place to place in the winter, underfed and poorly clothed, victims of broken treaty after broken treaty, having been removed from their reservation because of the discovery of gold. There are several twists along the way that add interest and conflict to this book.
This is a short novel at 296 pages and a good introduction to Dee Brown’s works.
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Calvary Scout: A Novel (Open Road Media, October 23, 2012) is available through:
Your local independent bookseller | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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