This book is from Chet Cunningham's "Pony Soldier" series of books on the frontier army during the Indian Wars era, being #6 in the overall series, with at least 9 other books in the entire series. This story focuses on activities of 4 pony soldier forts and posts near the 'iron horse' railroad around Smoky Hill, Kansas. The main tribe involved with the treachery is one band of the Southern Brule Sioux (Lakota). With the head chief of this band, Running Bear, having his main camp near the Nebraska border where the Republican River streams into the state. The tribe has been raiding, murdering, raping, and generally plundering local ranches in Kansas and Nebraska. But now Running Bear is trying to bring a coalition of tribes from Ogalala, Arapahoe, Northern Cheyenne, and several other Southern Brule Sioux into a large strength force of approximately 700 warriors with which to attack the forts and posts, burning each to the ground, aiming to drive the pony soldiers out of the area. Next the Brule war parties will destroy the 'iron horse' chasing the railroad out too. But his efforts are failing, and Colonel Colt Harding, blood brother to Red Cloud, known to the Lakota as Captain Two Guns has his 'lightning' cavalry forces on the march destroying Brule camps wherever found. Should Running Bear fail in his efforts for a coalition, then the future looks dark indeed for the Brule Sioux (Lakota). Reading this novel of the west is very enjoyable, offering a few hours of rousing entertainment. By and large, this is a good 'western', however sometimes the sex spills over a mite too much for its era, and some of the language is much too modern. For example one women uses the term "deadly force" when questioning Colt about the manner the army uses to kill the marauding Indians. These are but small complaints, for overall the story is a good one and the action and events are all fairly credible. Besides, one must always recall that this is afterall a novel and not non-fiction. Good reading. Semper Fi.
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