Published in hardcover: New York : Doubleday, 2006

Prologue : Hoofbeats -- pt. 1. The new men. -- Jumping off -- The glittering world -- The Army of the West -- Singing grass -- Blue Bead Mountain -- Who is James K. Polk? -- What a wild life! -- The ruling hand of providence -- The Pathfinder -- When the land is sick -- The un-Alamo -- We will correct all this -- Narbona Pass -- The uninvaded silence -- On the altar of the country -- A perfect butchery -- The fire of Montezuma -- Your duty, Mr. Carson -- Daggers in every look -- Men with ears down to their ankles -- The hall of final ruin -- The new men -- pt. 2. A broken country. -- The grim metronome -- Lords of the mountains -- The devil's turnpike -- Our red children -- Cold steel -- El Crepusculo -- American mercury -- Time at last sets all things even -- A broken country -- The finest head I ever saw -- The death knot -- Men without eyes -- Blood and thunder -- pt. 3. Monster slayer. -- The fearing time -- People of the single star -- The sons of some dear mother -- The round forest -- Children of the mist -- General orders no. 15 -- Fortress Rock -- The long walk -- Adobe walls -- The condition of the tribes -- Crossing purgatory -- Epilogue : In beauty we walk

Examines America's westward expansion, describing the forcible subjugation of Native American tribes, including the fierce battles against the Navajo which ended with a brutal siege at Canyon de Chelly and the "Long Walk" migration

Mountains & Plains Book Award, 2007