[This book] "preserves the history, heritage, indigenous cures and historic recipes of the original tribal families. ...This book reveals a slice of little-known American history of the Los Adaes natives, who were forcibly marched by armed Spanish soldiers from their homeland. ..."

Describes the white man's treatment and forcible displacement of five Indian nations of the Southwest--the Comanche, Cheyenne, Apache, Navajo, and Cherokee.

The Acuñas . . . a Spanish ranching family who have fought for decades to keep their land grant despite the harsh realities of the fickle desert weather and marauding bands of renegade Apaches and greedy Americans who covet their land for themselves. The Apaches . . . Geronimo, Cochise, Eskiminzin . . . are fighting to the death to keep their native lands and fading way of life in the turmoil of western expansion known as Manifest Destiny. The clash of three cultures . . . Spanish, Apache and Anglo . . . creates a thrilling tale of survival of the fittest; terror as the result of endless warfare; selfish greed for what others possess; overcoming terrific odds to maintain life in the brutal and unforgiving but beautiful land of the American Southwest.

Following several routes, thousands of American Indians were forced from their homelands in the Southeast. On their tortuous trek west many died. These routes, lined with graves, mark the tragedy now known today as The Trail of Tears, commemorated as a National Historic Trail.

A sixth-generation North Carolinian, highly-acclaimed author John Ehle grew up on former Cherokee hunting grounds. His experience as an accomplished novelist, combined with his extensive, meticulous research, culminates in this moving tragedy rich with historical detail. The Cherokee are a proud, ancient civilization. For hundreds of years they believed themselves to be the "Principle People" residing at the center of the earth. But by the 18th century, some of their leaders believed it was necessary to adapt to European ways in order to survive. Those chiefs sealed the fate of their tribes in 1875 when they signed a treaty relinquishing their land east of the Mississippi in return for promises of wealth and better land. The U.S. government used the treaty to justify the eviction of the Cherokee nation in an exodus that the Cherokee will forever remember as the “trail where they cried.” The heroism and nobility of the Cherokee shine through this intricate story of American politics, ambition, and greed. B & W photographs

Describes the white man's treatment and forcible displacement of five Indian nations of the Southwest--the Comanche, Cheyenne, Apache, Navajo, and Cherokee.