"This book is a collection of records and memories from Black Hourse Butte and Black Horse Creek homestead community in the southwest corner of Corson County, South Dakota"--p. iii.

Braden wasn't looking for trouble. He was just a ranch had looking for stray horses. But trouble found him. Trouble in the form of talk. He heard aabout someone doing something pretty low and getting away with it, and it started to work on his mind.

"It was in the year of 1945 on a cold morning, the third day, in the month of March. A little boy was born as the wind blew against the hogan with bitter colds and the stars were disappearing into the heaven." So begins the story of Broneco, a Navajo boy who tells of his search for a miracle. Through that telling we learn a new perspective on language and life. In Miracle Hill, Blackhorse Mitchell presents the unforgettable account of a boyÕs struggle to learnÑwhich would be for him a miracleÑin the face of handicaps most people would call insurmountable. Under the guidance of a teacher determined to help him pursue that miracle, he records his life from birth to the dawn of manhood: herding family sheep, living at a boarding school, encountering whites for the first time, journeying home, and finally enrolling in the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, where his talent was encouraged. Miracle Hill is written in a distinctively personal style, without strict adherence to orthodox grammar that would have robbed Mitchell of his true voice. Filled with unforgettable characters and brimming with insights into Navajo ways and family relationships, it is a book that crosses cultural barriers and speaks to the miracle-seeker in us all.