Killdeer Mountain: A Novel

by Dee Brown

An intrepid reporter’s investigation into the death of a controversial major reveals a surprising story of betrayal and redemption
It is 1866, and Sam Morrison, reporter for the St. Louis Herald, is aboard a steamer bound for Fort Standish off the coast of Massachusetts, determined to solve a mystery. The fort is about to be renamed in honor of Charles Rawley, a major who recently died in a fire while trying to prevent the escape of a captured Sioux chief. But just who was Rawley? Morrison is told a dizzying host of tales about the man—some call him a despot but others describe him as a martyr. He was a man all too willing to execute a deserter, but one who would spur his troops to do the utmost to ensure the safety of women and children. As the investigation unfolds, Morrison doesn’t know which stories to believe—especially when it comes to the truth about Rawley’s death.  Thrilling and wily, Killdeer Mountain is a deft triumph of historical fiction. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dee Brown including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Westerns, Native Americans, Native American

288 pages

First published February 1, 1983

About the author

AKA: Dee Alexander Brown

Dorris Alexander “Dee” Brown (1908–2002) was a celebrated author of both fiction and nonfiction, whose classic study Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is widely credited with exposing the systematic destruction of American Indian tribes to a world audience.

Brown was born in Louisiana and grew up in Arkansas. He worked as a reporter and a printer before enrolling at Arkansas State Teachers College, where he met his future wife, Sally Stroud. He later earned two degrees in library science, and worked as a librarian while beginning his career as a writer. He went on to research and write more than thirty books, often centered on frontier history or overlooked moments of the Civil War. Brown continued writing until his death in 2002.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still don't know who the guy was! Very good western era book of one elusive US Army major and his deceptions and escapades.

[Rebecca Smucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a trip back to the days when St. Louis was pretty close to the frontier and the country between it and San Francisco didn't have much to recommend it.

The story is narrated by a St. Louis reporter, a former Civil War correspondent, who happens across an old traveling companion in the form of a steamboat captain. He smells a story when he finds out that several of the passengers on the steamboat are headed to the dedication of a new fort, which is to be named after an officer they knew during the war. Questions arise: who exactly was this officer? What was his real nature? Who knew his real character? Is everyone who he says he is? There are pretty widows, sleazy Frenchmen, forlorn Native Americans, hardened war veterans, and a lot of pioneers.

This was a well-written book, suspenseful without being dramatic, which leaves it to the reader to answer some of the questions for herself. Well worth a read.

[Phylwil · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing I liked best about this book was its portrayal of the status of Lakota late in the Indian Wars, in flight and desperately seeking to preserve something of their life. The story, too, was enjoyable with a number of characters changing identities (or having their identities changed for them) along with alterations of the story line. In the end, it seemed that frontier South Dakota was a place where people could reinvent themselves, sometimes finding a better person to be.

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This strange, sometimes unwieldy, but still atmospheric novel captures the individualized society of the American West. Dee Brown, one of the American West's most incisive critics and lovers, presents the dualistic moral ambiguity of a nascent society where someone can very literally become anything they want to be. Brown ask the reader to consider that benefits of frontier society often accompany great failings, and vice versa. A fascinating and weird work, but one I recommend.

[Partridge Public]

Brown, Dee

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dee Brown, historian & novelist, knew more about the western frontiers of the United States of America than any Hollywood screenwriter or comic-book hack looking for 'real' stories with which to titillate readers in towns & cities off to the east.
'Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee' stands as his most celebrated historical study of the final, tragic cultural dances of Plains 'Indians' as the relentless spread of European immigrants engulfed Sioux, Cheyenne, Apache, Comanche...and turned them into 'hostiles' or 'injuns'...& imprisoned them on reservations or worse.
This novel, set around Wyoming in the years following the Civil War (1861-65), perfectly captures the desperate plight of displaced tribal groups as various characters from the States both Union & Confederate move west on quests for nefarious fame, golden fortune or missing family members. The main character is a a newspaperman out of St Louis, who is drawn into a past series of encounters between native Americans & pale-faced (red-faced?!) white men - and women! - and uncovers an intriguing mystery of identities & violent events.
I picked-up this well-worn copy - ex-library in Dorset - for 50p, 20 years ago...&, having rescued it from another stack of unread books, I certainly got my money's-worth & more in a great read for a student like me, of both American history & 'Westerns', as perfected by John Ford & his team of film-makers.

[Micah Kacmarynski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Killdeer Mountain is the story of Major Rawley told from the perspective of a journalist who attempts to learn about him by questioning a variety of people involved with him before his supposed death. The journalist, Sam Morrison, starts this venture when he ends up on a steamboat with many of these people, where they all are traveling to the new fort named after Major Rawley, in order to see the ceremony made to honor the Major. The many accounts Morrison collects do not point to one clear answer to the mystery of Major Rawley. It is not even clear who he truly is, or if he indeed remains alive.

While this book seems to be mostly intended to entertain, it shows some interesting things about the Sioux Indians, and how they were treated, as well as how women were treated in this time period. It certainly shows what the Civil War time period was like for the soldiers not fighting the Confederates, and instead positioned in the Midwest, around the Native Americans. In addition, it shows some of what life was like in the 1800s, especially in regards to travel.

This story is an exceptional example of a suspenseful and interesting mystery book that avoids much tension, so those who enjoy a sense of stress in their mysteries may not enjoy it so much. There is some description of gore but it is not particularly detailed, and I did not find it to be bothersome at all.

[Bob Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like a mystery

I don't know where to start . This story has so much in it . It is told from several different points of view. After I finished I still wasn't sure if I truly knew what was what. This story calls for a rereading sometime because it still makes wonder about in a good way.

[Vikki Ascuena · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's a name

My impression is this is a shaggy dog tale, Twainish except lacking in satire and comedy. I never cared to learn the identity of the scarred man. None of the various commentators swayed me, and the narrator/reporter accepted all versions of the story as presented.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good. A western, with a bit of a mystery.

[John Reino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected

The book was boring I keep my consternation, I'm supized that I didn't like it. What about the beaver tuff