It was a time of bloody confrontation between the white man and the red man, a time when the pioneers of a new nation were pushing out across the Great Plains and yet the powerful spirits of an ancient mystical religion still held sway over the Indians. In this troubled, dangerous time, there is a man who has the privilege - and the curse - of belonging to both worlds. He is Gray Cloud, a disciple of the ageing shaman Owl Carver. A handsome young half-breed, he is chosen by the Great Turtle to become the mystical leader of the Sauk people...and summoned by his French-born aristocratic father to inherit the vast estate of Victoire. (Goodreads)