One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus

This historical work of fiction is based on a little know fact from history. In 1854 a Cheyenne chief suggested that the US government provide the tribe with 1000 white women who would become their brides, in trade for 1000 horses. It was the chief’s belief that this would solve the problem of the combination of the two cultures and prevent more war. Of course, the request was denied and nothing of the sort happened but this book answers the question what if it had? This book is the fictional journal of one of the women who might have been picked to become a Cheyenne wife. The reading is charming and fascinating, incorporating fragments of historical fact surrounding the lives of pioneers, settlers, troops and tribal people of the time period.

5 Stars