Legends of the West

1 This novel is dedicated to Vivian Towlerton For the memories of good times past 2 This novel was written mostly during the year 2010 CE whilst drinking the fair-trade coffee provided by the Caffé Vita and Sizizis coffee shops in Olympia, Washington Most of the research was conducted during the year 2010 CE upon the free Wi-Fi provided by the Caffé Vita and Sizizis coffee shops in Olympia, Washington. My thanks to management and staff. It was good. 3 Excerpt from Legends of the West: Spotted Tail said, “Now, let me tell you the worst thing about the Wasicu, and the hardest thing to understand: They do not understand choice...” This caused a murmur of consternation among the Lakota. Choice was choice. What was not there to not understand? Choice is the bedrock tenet of our very view of reality. The choices a person makes are quite literally what makes that person into who they are. Who else can tell you how to be you? One follows one’s own nature and one’s own inner voice; to us this is sacrosanct. You can choose between what makes life beautiful and what makes life ugly; you can choose whether to paint yourself in a certain manner or whether to wear something made of iron — or, as was the case with the famous Cheyenne warrior Roman Nose — you could choose to never so much as touch iron. In battle you choose whether you should charge the enemy first, join the main thrust of attack, or take off on your own and try to steal his horses. One’s understanding of their rôle and place is the very essence of who they are. None will ever mock another’s choice. Such a thing does not even enter our thought. Only when causing problems with others was there respectful and well-thought-out intervention by the elders — but otherwise no one even sought to influence another’s choice; coercing it was literally inconceivable. Even in the unlikely event that someone did think of the idea it would be immediately dismissed as counterproductive. To the Lakota this is just bedrock core reality. It is so basic and obvious that it is unnecessary to even speak of it. Thus, Spotted Tail’s statement merely confused his listeners. We had no point of reference. The concept was so fundamental to our worldview that saying the Wasicus did not understand choice was like saying the Wasicus did not understand that fire was hot. What could it mean that they did not understand choice? Were Wasicus not human? Spotted Tail struggled to frame the concept in words that his people could understand: “Among the Wasicus, some think that they can choose for others.” This statement was so stunning and unbelievable that Spotted Tail just let the words hang in silence for a few moments. After allowing time for his people to attempt to grasp such an oppressive and bizarre concept Spotted Tail continued: “As a result of this, the Wasicus constantly fight over every little thing. They fight and kill each other over ideas we cannot even understand. Rather than respecting a man’s way they stop at nothing to force others to adopt their way and believe me; they hate our way of life. Their deepest desire is to force us to live as they live and they will kill anyone who refuses.” At least one Lakota understood the thrust of Spotted Tail’s words. In utter outrage I heard Crazy Horse whisper under his breath, “You are saying that they wish to kill both our bodies and our spirits!” To a Lakota, this is probably about as close as it is possible to come to speaking blasphemy. I had never before felt or sensed fear from the Lakota. That now changed. For the first time since I had been living with them I saw real fear in the eyes of some of these proud and fearless people... In the eyes of others, though — such as those of Crazy Horse — I saw the mindless hatred that prom- ised the ultimate kind of violence. I saw in Crazy Horse’s eyes the kind of violence that can result only from the most unspeakable and profound outrage. 4 Forward Greetings! Welcome to Legends of the West! After forays into Tsarist Russia, contemporary Indiana, and a fictional Central American country, I have returned my novelistic setting to the Old West! It is good to be back! It is also good to return to an old-fashioned, rollicking, good-time adventure story with- out overarching social or political agendas — well, not too many anyway — but unlike my last three novels, social commentary is not the central focus of the story. Well, it is not the central focus very much... Well, actually — quite a bit of it is. Oh well. Ya likes it or ya doesn’t. Legends of the West also represents another foray into the realm of historic fiction, i.e. I have included numerous historic persons and events in a fictional story. Except for a few little fibs here and there, some occasional exaggeration, a little time manipulation, a little attribution of motive and dialogue, and except for some of the interactions between historic persons and my fictional protagonist — with but those few caveats — the historic persons in Legends of the West are as accurately portrayed as I could make them. However, since Legends of the West focuses on a number of legendary figures, separating legend from fact proved to be a difficult and sometimes impossible exercise. (Historians often find legend blocking access to what had at one time been a human being.) Thus, I have tended to portray the most dramatic version of events when those events were unclear and/or controversial in the historic record — especially if they improved the story. This is why I prefer writing fiction to writing history: Making up what you don’t know is much freer, much more fun, and much more liberating than dry facts — especially when one considers the slant and spin that is often given to ‘facts’ in order to suit the political agendas of some especially nasty human beings. This dearth of facts is especially true in the case of Crazy Horse, as there is a distinct scarcity of written record on Crazy Horse’s life and career. He never even allowed his picture to be taken! (Smart man, that Crazy Horse.) So — load up your six-gun, pack some victuals, saddle up your horse, and let’s go for a little ride through 19th Century America! Enjoy! Dana Walker 2010 Olympia, Washington 5 Legends of the West By Dana Walker This is a limited first edition printing of this novel It is personally published by the author for the purpose of free distribution to special people This copy is not for sale, though you should be warned that it is protected by powerful magic, and by all applicable copyright laws Keep your karma clean Thank You Legends of the West © 2010 by Dana Walker All Rights Are Reserved Do you want to comment, criticize, call me vile names, or seduce me? Email: [email protected] Version 1 6 Table of Contents Editor’s Note: 9 Prologue: The Massacre 10 Chapter One: The Escape 17 Chapter Two: The Land of the Wasicu 24 Chapter Three: The Return of the Prodigal Son 46 Chapter Four: The Return of General George 55 Chapter Five: The Wild West 83 Chapter Six: The Despoliation 71 Chapter Seven: The Greasy Grass 87 Chapter Eight: Retaliation 105 Chapter Nine: Kid Billy 117 Chapter Ten: Perilous Amazons 126 Chapter Eleven: Taming the Bull 150 Chapter Twelve: Geronimo’s Last Stand 157 Chapter Thirteen: Dancing Ghosts 167 Chapter Fourteen: Range Wars 171 Chapter Fifteen: Aimless Wandering 186 Chapter Sixteen: The Search 193 Editor’s Final Note: Bud Dajo 202 7 8 Editor’s Note: To know the truth of history is to realize its ultimate myth and its inevitable ambiguity Roy P. Basler erein is contained the journal of Trinity Valance [1847-1906]. It is documented that Mr. HValance was born September 5th, 1847, in Great Salt Lake City, Utah. There is convincing evidence that he died March 7th, 1906 at a place called Bud Dajo in the Philippines. His journal was discovered in the estate of one J. Redford McIlwaine after Mr. McIlwaine committed suicide in 1929 immediately following the Black Friday stock market crash. According to Mr. McIlwaine’s daughter, Mr. Valance’s journal was found stored with the memorabilia of her father’s experiences in the United States Army, during which time he participated in the pacification of the Moro during the Philippine Uprising. Don’t feel bad if you have never heard of Trinity Valance. Hardly anyone ever has. However — if even a small fraction of the information contained in Mr. Valance’s journal is true, then it is amazing that hardly anyone has ever heard of him since, according to his journal, Mr. Valance was directly involved in many of the central historical events during the settling of the American West. I cannot vouch for the historical accuracy of this journal. Much of it is fantastic — however, I can say that in the few instances where there is documentary evidence, Mr. Valance’s account seems roughly to correspond with estab- lished facts. It is possible that he researched the facts and then wove them into a fictional story with himself playing the prominent rôle that he claims. However — it must be noted that Mr. Valance evidently kept this journal a secret during the entire course of his life, and there is no evidence that he ever tried to sell it or to publicize it in any way.

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