Joseph W. Ulmer

Encounter: a Historical Novel Joseph W. Ulmer

It is a cold winter day in 1839 as Dark Cloud, a wife of the great Cheyenne hunter Antelope-Dances-in Fire, works to flesh a deer hide before certain snowfall. It is only a few hours later when Dark Cloud gives birth to Snow, her overdue son. As her baby grows into a Cheyenne boy and word spreads that white people are coming, the Cheyenne and Arapaho prepare to meet the Kiowa and Comanche to make peace. But as a spotted sickness lurks in the shadows, the tribes must weather the winter with thin hides and little fat. Their troubles have just begun. In Ohio, a few years later, George Custer attends school, graduates, and begins teaching school. At the same time, as Dark Cloud's belly swells again and the Native American warriors grow angrier with every unjust raid, Snow has grown into a strong and brave warrior named Bear of the Cheyenne. In this captivating historical novel, two parallel lives intertwine during an intense conflict between cultures-one focused on the future and the other clinging to a remembered yesterday. "Obviously written from the heart, this is a story that had to be written . . . " -Terry Wilson, PhD, dean emeritus of Native American Studies, UC-Berkeley