Plainsmen

Seven month of small reprisals since the Fetterman massacre had passed. Sergeant Seamus Donegan of the Army of the West had witnessed proud leaders-both Indian and White-steel themselves for the withering clashes to come. And, on two consecutive summer days, battle erupted-drowning the Dakota Territory in a dam burst of bloodshed: the Hay Field Fight and Wagon Box Fight of 1867.

No one captures the glory, adventure and drama of the courageous men and women who tamed the American West like award-winning author Terry Johnston. His Plainsmen series brims with colorful characters, fierce battles and compelling historical lore. Entrenched on a poorly sheltered island, many of Seamus Donegan's crack squad of Army scouts lie dead-and many more are dying. Led by Colonel George Forsyth, fifty seasoned plainsmen had combed the Colorado Territory in search of Cheyenne. Along a fork of the Republican River, these brave men suddenly found themselves outnumbered twenty to one. Now Donegan, his fellow scouts, and his long-lost uncle are trapped-and under attack. As the battle rages, Donegan is stalked by a traitor who seeks revenge for old wrongs. Together the dwindling band awaits a heroic last-minute rescue from the merciless nine-day seige-known today as the Battle of Beecher Island..

No one captures the glory, adventure and drama of the courageous men and women who tamped the American West like award-winning author Terry Johnston. His Plainsmen series brims with colorful characters, fierce battles and compelling historical lore. Grueling winter gave way to bloody spring as Seamus Donegan and his fellow Army scouts rode west with the Kansas Pacific Railway. Led by the legendary "Buffalo" Bill Cody, they withstood blazing hit-and-run raids by Cheynne Dog Soldiers-while trailed by a skulking enemy from Donegan's past. Then, in midsummer, the fleeing Cheyennes camped. And the 5th Cavalry mounted the brutal surprise attack that would give rise to a fierce new warrior-leader named White Horse: the battle of Summit Springs, 1869.

Devil's Backbone Terry C. Johnston The Modoc Indians and American officials had been flirting with war in the Oregon Territory for some time. When Modoc chief Keintpoos murdered a Civil War hero during negotiations, the U.S. Army launched a deadly offensive against the rebel tribe. Besieged in the natural stronghold of the Lava Beds near Tule Lake, the Modocs waged bloody war for seven long months. Sergeant Seamus Donegan, on the trail of his uncle, Ian O'Rourke, arrived at Tule Lake just as the conflict erupted. Soon Donegan and the brooding O'Rourke found themselves embroiled in what would be the costliest war in frontier history...

Chief White Bear and his Kiowa tribe would accept no more broken promises from the white man, so they left the Indian Territory reservations and crossed the Red River to the south. But, heir last desperate attempt to regain the land of their ancestors meant dead white settlers, embattled soldiers, and shaken supply routes. General Sheridan's seasoned forced were now on the move to stem the Indian tide. And, crack Army Sergeant Seamus Donegan would soon find himself at the center of a vast and bloody war...

Dying Thunder Terry Johnston Newly freed from service with the 10th Cavalry, Seamus Donegan joins a party of buffalo hunters as they follow the shrinking herds into the ancient hunting grounds of the Kiowa and Comanche. The presence of the white men ignites a storm of Indian fury and the group is besieged. Donegan and some 27 men and one woman take shelter in a few sod shanties. They hold off over 700 braves for five days in the fight at Adobe Walls. From then on, the U.S. Army would not rest until the Indians of the Staked Plain returned to their reservations. Under the command of Colonel Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, Seamus Donegan rides back to that embattled land as the U.S. Army tracks the tribes of Chief Quanan Parker to Palo Duro canyon-for a bloody showdown that would forever change the face of the West.

Blood Song Terry C. Johnston Frontier Scout Seamus Donegan is heading for Montana Territory with his new bride when war erupts in the Black Hills of Dakota. Sitting bull and Crazy horse have defied the federal Government and refused to lead the wild tribes of the Northern Plains onto the reservation, and Washington decides to end the Indian problem once and for all. Donegan joins us with General George Cook who is leading the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry and a rough-and-tumble band of scouts and interpreters into the bloody battle. For Seamus Donegan and the men on the front lines, the long fight in the bitter cold of winter will be one of loneliness and fear-a struggle for survival that will not end, even with the swift and successful assault one the enemy stronghold. For in the ashes on the snow, in the fury of defeated warriors, the seeds are sown for a new and even bloodier chapter in the Indian Wars.

Turn the Stars Upside Down is the compelling and little-known story of Crazy Horse's surrender in 1877 only months after his last fight with the U.S. Army at Battle Butte, his futile attempts to find peace for his warrior heart among the reservation Indians, and his eventual undoing at the hands of his own Oglala people. For all his life, this warrior has been a defender of the weak and helpless. But surrounded now on a tiny red island in a sea of white, he finds himself powerless against the forces arrayed against him in what will ultimately be his battle, waged against deceptive army officers, and even against Oglala leaders who whisper, connive, and conspire behind his back to bring about his fall. Even more disastrous will be those friends who once fought at his side against the encroaching white tide--friends who now turn against him, joining his enemies in plotting against this last great hero of the Lakota people. Award-winning and bestselling frontier author Terry C. Johnston brings all his talent to bear in this tragic tale of betrayal, with all the immediacy and emotion he has so skillfully created in thirty previous novels. No story of the Indian Wars would be complete without this final episode in the short life of Crazy Horse, a story of treachery and deception, but also--ultimately--of the victory of the human spirit.