Crossed Arrows

It is the 1890s, and the Indian Wars have finally come to an end. Captain Mack Hawkins is ordered to take command of one of the first units of the recently organized U.S. Scouts. For the first time in American military history, these tribesmen are being allowed to enlist as fully-accepted soldiers in the United States Army. Hawkins' new command is the Kiowa-Comanche Detachment, and he has little time to turn his team of former nomadic prairie warriors into an efficient, disciplined fighting unit. If he doesn't, they're sure to be wiped out on their first mission of tracking down the outlaws who stole an army payroll. Patrick E. Andrews was born in Oklahoma in 1936 into a family of pioneers who participated in its growth from the Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory to statehood. His father's family were homesteaders and his mother's cattle ranchers. Consequently, he is among the last generation of American writers who had contacts with those people from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Patrick's wife Julie says he both speaks and writes with an Oklahoma accent.He is an ex-paratrooper, having served in the 82nd Airborne Division in the active army and the 12th Special Forces Group in the army reserves. Patrick began his writing career after leaving the army. He and his better half presently reside in southern California. He has a son Bill, who is an ex-paratrooper and a probation officer, and two grandchildren. Risking their lives to make the frontier a safer place for settlers, the cavalry became heroic figures to many, and the promise of action and excitement generated by the sight of army blue still continues today. Patrick E. Andrews captures the hardships of life on the frontier for ... The Long-Knives.