Danny Blackgoat is a teenager in Navajo country when soldiers burn down his home, kill his sheep and capture his family. During the Long Walk of 1864, Danny is labeled a troublemaker and given the name Fire Eye. Refusing to accept captivity, he is sent to Fort Davis, Texas, a Civil War prisoner outpost. There he battles bullying fellow prisoners, rattlesnakes and abusive soldiers until he meets Jim Davis. Jim teaches Danny how to hold his anger and starts him on the road to literacy. In a stunning climax, Jim—who builds coffins for the dead—aids Danny in a daring and dangerous escape. Set in troubled times, "Danny Blackgoat" is the story of one boy's hunger to be free "and" be Navajo.

Danny Blackgoat, a Navajo teenager, was taken to a Civil War prison camp during the Long Walk of 1864. He escaped in volume one, Danny Blackgoat, Navajo Prisoner, but in this second installment, he must still face many obstacles in order to rescue his family and find freedom. Whether it’s the soldiers and bandits who are chasing him or the dangers of the harsh desert climate, Danny ricochets from one bad situation to the next, but his bravery doesn’t falter and he never loses faith.

During the Civil War, the United States Army imprisoned thousands of Navajos in unsafe conditions at Fort Sumner. Through the eyes of teenager Danny Blackgoat, we experience their struggle to survive. In this third Danny Blackgoat novel, which completes the saga, the major characters appear in a final scene of reckoning. Jim Davis, a rebel Civil War prisoner and Danny's friend, is arrested for horse theft, and Danny must choose between helping his friend or remaining free. Only the word of a Navajo woman can save them both, but will she arrive at Fort Sumner before the bugles sound and the hanging begins?