Horse Woman's Child: A Novel About Clashing Cultures on the American Frontier

by Roger Stoner

On May 14, 1804 Captain Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left the docks in St. Louis, leading a secret expedition up the Missouri River with the goal of finding a passage to the west coast of the continent. A young blacksmith’s apprentice, Hugh McNeal, begs for and gains a last minute spot on the company’s roster. As they travel up river, the company experiences hardship, sickness and the dangers involved with meeting the primitive natives that inhabit the banks of the Missouri. But the promiscuous nature of the Indian women they meet proves a distraction from the men’s daily tribulations. A light-skinned, red-haired child is born of a liaison between Hugh and a young Dakotah girl, Bright Morning. It is a difficult birthing aided by the girl’s medicine god and mystical dreams. Fearing that the child’s medicine is strong, the young girl’s husband changes her name to Horse Woman and names the baby Horse Woman’s Child.

432 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2011

Reviews

[Mary Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little clumsy in places but good reading. I live in the area where it took place so found it interesting. Inkpaduta is a familiar name from local history.

[Drew Hackett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a top 5 book for me. I'm from NW Iowa, grew up on the Little Sioux river, and lived in the lakes region for a couple years. It was interesting to find out I lived in the actual spot the original cabins stood. A really interesting and entertaining book. It's very well written. I'm sure I'll read it again, which is something I rarely do.

[Eric Klehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very Interesting book. Mr Stoner tells a great story of the life events of Inkpaduta, the Wahpekute tribe of the Dakota Indians in the mid1800s. To make a good story with very little documentation there were many liberties taken with the lives of the people but he does stay fairly true to the actual historical events. This book gives us a better understanding of the horrible events that took place at the Spirit Lake Massacre in1857 and the constant struggle of the Dakota Indians as their land was invaded by the white man.
It definitely much more interesting to read than a typical history book and it brought to life the actual characters and their tough way of life.
I would especially recommend this book to anyone interested in the Spirit Lake Massacre and insights into the cause of the U.S. - Dakota war of 1862. This time in our history has been vastly ignored and forgotten.
Note: it's very sexually explicate.