Hundred in the Hand: A Novel (Lakota Westerns)

The first in a series of groundbreaking novels about the American West from the Lakota perspective

 (47 customer reviews)

Long before the Little Bighorn and George Armstrong Custer's ignominious end at hands of Chief Crazy Horse there was the Fetterman Massacre of 1866 (known to the Lakota as the Battle of the Hundred in Hand). In this novel of the 19th century American West, author Joseph M. Marshall III, himself a Lakota Sioux, tells the tale of an intrepid band of Lakota's bent on closing the Bozeman Trail to all white men.

While many of the events that pepper the novel are true and some of the characters portrayed are actual historical figures, like Crazy Horse, most of the other participants in this story are creations of the authors' fertile imagination. The story is told from the Indian perspective and offers lessons in the Indian culture, their history, and the geography of the area before the "civilized world" began its steady and inevitable march West.

Marshall has a definite talent for searching out the truth beneath the myths, and deftly leading us to examine each...Read more

Many years ago I went through my "westerns" phase reading several different westerns about how America was settled. I always wondered about the Native American perspective, and I was very eager to read this book. As far as I know, this is the first historical fiction novel about the west as told from the Native American perspective.

The story is told through a fictitious Lakota Indian named Cloud. The story is about the Fetterman Massacre, a battle that took place on Dec. 21, 1866, also known as Hundred in the Hand by the Lakota. For the most part, I began to relate to the Lakota's since the story is told from their viewpoint, but occassionally the author throws in a perspective from the white side for balance.

It was refreshing to see the Lakota as everyday people like you and me, rather than then savages portrayed by western film and literature I am familiar with. It was also very interesting to me that the cover art work displays the white man as blue...Read more

"With swift but unhurried motions" the Lakota turned the pages of history as they triumphed in the battle of the Hundred in the Hand, also known as the Fetterman Massacre of 1866. Told in the oral tradition through the eyes of Cloud, a brave young Lakota warrior who fought alongside the famed Crazy Horse, this dramatic western tale brings the reader into the midst of the Old West and Native American life.

The Lakota have long lived as brothers and sisters with nature and Mother Earth. Now, their lifestyles and homes are being threatened by the insurgence of Long Knives who are intruding upon their homeland, killing huge numbers of game and changing the landscape with the construction of forts and towns. As the Lakota elders come to the realization that these intruders are here to stay, warriors from several tribes band together to reclaim their territory and protect the land that they love.

Fighting not only for his people and culture but also for his young...Read more