The Legend BeginsJuan Garcia rode as an arrogant conquistador into the heart of an unexplored continent. One day, on a lone patrol, he was injured and lost. He knew he had little chance of surviving or of ever returning to his homeland. But what happened from that day forward made a different man of Juan Garcia. He embarked upon a greater adventure than any he could have imagined. For instead of hostility, he discovered a people who showed him a new way of life. And he, in turn, brought them a talisman, the Spanish Bit, that forever transformed their society. With well over four million copies of his critically-acclaimed frontier novels in print, Don Coldsmith is one of the bestselling novelists of the Native American experience.

Don Coldsmith, inducted into the Writer's Hall of Fame of America and voted one of the Greatest Western Writers of the Twentieth Century by the Western Writers of America, is one of our national treasures. He single-handedly revolutionized the Western novel with his acclaimed Spanish Bit Saga, which has more than six million copies in print. Set in the early sixteenth century, the Spanish Bit Saga re-creates a time, a place, and a people that have been nearly lost to history. In it we see history in the making through the proud eyes of those who lived it. In the recent past, the People lived in fear, constantly pursued by their ancient enemies, the Head Splitters. But that was before Spaniard Juan Garcia arrived, bringing horses-Elk-Dogs. He taught his adopted people to ride and fight, to defy death and be victorious. Slowly, at first, they learned the ways of the magnificent animals that Garcia brought them. Soon, none could stand against them, and the once cowering and timid People became lords of the American Great Plains. The Head Splitters were defeated and now the People live a life of peace and prosperity. But not all are satisfied with peace. Eager to prove their manhood, the youths of the tribe long for the days of war. Against the direct orders of their elders, the young bloods seek out the Head Splitters and, waging their own war, place the entire tribe in jeopardy.

Don Pedro Garcia was impatient; there were only so many forced marches the horses could endure. He was an old man now, and he wanted to see his son who, rumor had it, was alive among the Indians of the Great Plains. Don Pedro's lieutenant, Ramon Cabeza, was also troubled, for no matter how fast the search party traveled the Indians always seemed to know their movements days in advance. What neither man could know was that Don Pedro's son was alive, now a chief among the Elk-dog band—and that the feared Head Splitters were preparing to make war upon the intruders who had violated their lands. Set in the New World of the early 16th century, Don Coldsmith's acclaimed novels re-create a time, a place, and a people that have been nearly lost to history. In The Spanish Bit Saga we see history in the making through the eyes of those proud Native Americans who lived it. With 6 million copies of his critically acclaimed books in print, Don Coldsmith is one of America's premier novelists of the North American Frontier.

Owl, the second son of Chief Heads Off, who was a white man, becomes an apprentice to White Buffalo, the tribe's medicine man

Eagles' father, Heads Off, leads the Elk-dog band by virtue of bringing to horse—the "elk-dog"—to the People. Eagle himself has mastered the ways of the horse, but now the warrior must learn survivor. His frightened, untrained mount, in panic in the hunt, has carried him far from his band, leaped from, a cliff, and smashed the hapless Eagle on the Rocks below. He faces a winter alone, without weapons or friends—and with a broken, useless leg. But then a strangle old man gives him shelter. Is he a demented outcast of the People? Or the legendary trickster, the mischievous Man of the Shadows? Whoever he is—he alone will determine Eagle's fate.

Don Coldsmith, voted one of the greatest western writers of the twentieth century by the Western Writers of America, single-handedly revolutionized the Western novel with his acclaimed Spanish Bit Saga. Set in the early sixteenth century, the Spanish Bit re-creates a time, a place, and a people that have been nearly lost to history. In it we see history through the eyes of those who lived it. The Elk-Dog band has grown and prospered, yet still they cling to old traditions. Eagle Woman, the unmarried daughter of a sub-chief, is as skilled, as fearless, and as strong as most young men of the band. Defying tradition, she applies for warrior status-over the spirited objections of Long Walker, the handsome warrior who wants her for his wife. But the more he opposes Eagle Woman, the more determined she becomes. When a tragedy strikes her family, Eagle Woman sets out on a dangerous mission for vengeance against the treacherous Head-Splitters. And Long Walker rides with her-straight into a trap.

A young brave's spiritual visions become vital to the survival of the Great Plains Indians known as the People

From the North rides a savage tribe of warriors who kill for pleasure. When the Blue Paints attack the People, they murder the wife of Looks Far, medicine man to the People, and into his hands falls the People's only hope. He must seek the help of the People's old enemies, the Head Splitters. HC: Doubleday.

Follows a young Indian's struggle to return to her tribe after being kidnapped and sold into bondage

Pale Star of the Elk-Dog band, cruelly abducted from the People as a child, has grown into a cunning and courageous woman, Married to a scout named Brule, she has won the respect of the Fran-coy at faraway Fort Mishi-hgan for her beauty and storytelling skills. Yet she yearns for her home. So when Brule and Pale Star are chosen to guide the Fran-coy soldier Andre Du Pres down the Big River into uncharted territory she forms a daring plan to get back to her family. But Pale Star's judgement is soon clouded by a secret and forbidden love for Andre, and she may lead the exploring party straight into danger—and bring a white stranger and his powerful medicine to the People's land. THE SPANISH BIT SAGA Set in the New World of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Don Coldsmith's acclaimed novels recreate a time, a place, and a people that have been nearly lost to history. In The Spanish Bit Saga we see history in the making through the eyes of those proud Native Americans who lived it.

After abandoning his half-breed son, Jean Cartier, a French sergeant, has second thoughts and returns to the Elk-dog Band

The Elk-Dog People have two new members, former soldiers in the French Army. Fully assimilated into the tribe, they travel to Santa Fe to help the group trade pelts. But soon trouble starts, and the new tribesmen must defend their people. HC: Doubleday.

Chronicles the lives of the Great Plains natives, following the lives of DuPres and Cartier—known as Shy-Eyes and Woodchuck of the People—as they trade along the Santa Fe border

Red Feather, one of the Elk-dog People, makes one of his regular trading trips into Santa Fe, unaware that the Spanish are hanging medicine men

Depicts the life and culture of American Indians living on the Great Plains during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

Red Horse and his son, Antelope, agree to escort individuals from a French frontier fortification to Santa Fe in order to establish trade with the Spanish, but along the way they encounter a hostile Mandan tribe

Devastated by the buffalo herd's failure to return to their familiar grazing lands in the spring, the People look to their medicine man, Red Horse, who, along with Digging Owl, sets out to find the herd. Original.

Famous for his proficiency in all the weapons in the People's arsenal, Strong Bow is eager to prove his skill by capturing his people's highest glory—dying while battling Spanish imperialism. Reprint.

When his adopted Pawnee people abduct a young woman from his native tribe, the Elk-dog People, Bear Paws is torn between past ties and loyalty to his new wife's tribe. Reprint.

Twelve brave young men set out, led by the indomitable Blue Jay, seeking a better wintering land to the mysterious south. But the quest becomes an obsession that plunges the men—and the beautiful, enigmatic woman who joins them—into a lush, deadly forest inhabited by great spotted cats and "thunder lizards," against a man-eating people near the sea, and to a highland realm where human sacrifices are performed on a man-made mountain. To the young holy man Walks in the Sun, the journey is a test of his vision and his skill at casting the bones. For as he and his comrades face death, disease, and loss, they fight for survival—and a return to the People.

Singing Wolf has reached his seventeenth summer, and the time has come to prove himself as a hunter. . . and a lover. But Singing Wolf has a rival in the hunt for buffalo and in the courtship of the beautiful woman called Rain. He is a handsome stranger from the eastern band of the People, and he has brought a weapon of extraordinary power, magic, and danger: the thunderstick. Their enemies already have the death-dealing muskets, and if the People are to survive they must have them, too. To learn the way of the thunderstick, Singing Wolf must overcome his jealousy and accept the teaching of White Feathers . . . even as their love for the same woman threatens to destroy their clans.

The 22nd volume in the Spanish Bit Saga can also be read as a stand-alone novel. A bond between the People and their brother the Bear is broken as tragedy strikes on their annual trip to the Summer Council. Fearing the bear who killed Corn Woman is an evil spirit in disguise, Singing Wolf must take matters into his own hands—even if it means breaking the Law.

On the eve of the annual Sun Dance, Singing Wolf, a holy man, discovers that an entire village has been wiped out by a smallpox epidemic, and Singing Wolf must care for the lone survivor and leave his tribe to prevent spreading the disease. Reprint.

From his auspicious birth, Wolf Pup has demonstrated an instinct for the ways of the wild. Yet it is in the lodge of his grandfather Singing Wolf that he seeks his true calling medicine man and future bearer of the Story Skins, the pipe, and the sacred Spanish bit. But before he can claim his destiny Wolf Pup must undertake a perilous vision quest. He must learn to see through the eyes of the deer, soar with the red-tailed hawk, sit coiled with the snake in the grass. Then a whirlwind of terror, an instant of destruction, will leave his village in ruins and chase the life-giving herds of buffalo across the horizon and beyond the People's reach. Suddenly Wolf Pup discovers that the burden of being Pipe Bearer may require the most profound and painful sacrifice of all. From the Paperback edition.

When Pipe Bearer, the young shaman of the Elk-Dog people dreams of a powerful spirit-horse—one bearing distinctive, hat-like markings on its head and ears—he knows he is being sent an important message. But he cannot interpret its meaning. Soon after, a colt is born bearing the exact markings he dreamed about and he is directed to undertake a long quest to the lands of the Pawnee and Lakota in order to learn the meaning of this event. Disguised as traders, he and his wife, Otter Woman, will encounter many wonders and not a few dangers before they discover the meaning of the colt with the Medicine Hat.

A continuation of Don Coldsmith’s Spanish Bit series, The Lost Band traces the sage of the People, a fictional nation of American Plains Indians in the late eighteenth century. Annually the People celebrate the Sun Dance, and each year the Council circle leaves an empty place of honor for the Lost Band, whose members disappeared and are presumed killed in a genocidal raid in the Great Plains two hundred years earlier. This group is the Lost Band, their fate an ongoing mystery in the history of the People. In The Lost Band, Story Keeper, chief of the Forest Band, unravels the puzzle when he makes a sudden and dramatic appearance. To claim the empty place at the Council table, Story Keeper must recount the fate of the Lost Band. The story begins as White Moon and her adopted child are gradually embraced by a childless couple whose people have abducted the last of the Band. At the same time, White Moon’s friend Turkey Hen becomes the Second Wife of her captor. Turkey Hen enjoys her status and is willing to sacrifice her heritage for security. White Moon, however, is determined to return the Lost Band to their seat in the Council circle. She secretly struggles to keep the traditions of the Forest Band alive.

Snakewater, the oldest Cherokee in her village, serves as the tribal shaman until a young woman, grieving over the death of her infant, blames the elderly woman for the death, a case that is complicated when a warrior dies by his own knife in her hut and his brother mysteriously drowns, in the latest installment in the popular Spanish Bit saga.

A Quest Into Legend From the moment he laid eyes on it, young Beaver of the Elk-dog People felt drawn to the spirit of the pipestone. Now he’s setting out on a vision quest to the only place the red stone can be the Pipestone Quarry. Traveling with a trader’s young family, Beaver learns the ways of barter as he follows the trade routes–and his inner guides–to an adventure that may cost his life. For Beaver must uncover the pipestone’s secret to break a curse that has suddenly befallen their traveling party. And he must stand between a merciless warrior people and a breakaway band of their former neighbors, among whom is the beautiful widow Pale Moon. Is Pale Moon the final curse that stands between Beaver and the pipestone–or the sign he needs to complete his quest? Recently selected by True West magazine as the “best living western historical novelist,” and with nearly six million copies of his critically acclaimed novels in print, Don Coldsmith is one of today’s bestselling authors of the North American frontier.