Winter of the
Holy Iron

A novel by Joseph Marshall III

304 pages, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2
$19.95 cloth, 1-878610-44-9

In the winter of 1750, a holy iron (flintlock rifle) and two Frenchmen are thrust into the lives of the Wolf Tail band of the Sciangu Lakota. Few white men have previously ventured onto the plains west of the Great Muddy (Missouri) River. Whirlwind, a war chief, finds his people divided in their feelings about the intrusion of the holy iron into their lives and what it could mean to their future. To Whirlwind, the thunderous noise of the white man's holy iron is the voice of death. Death not only for a person, but for what it means to be a true warrior.

"Since that moment when death nearly took me, I have often wondered why he tried to kill me. Did he shoot at me because of what was in his heart? Or did he shoot at me because of his weapon? Did he shoot at me because he knew he could kill easily? Did he shoot at me because he felt his weapon gave him a right to kill?"

Joseph Marshall III was born on the Rosebud Sioux (Sciangu Lakota) Indian Reservation in what is now south-central South Dakota. Raised by his maternal grandparents, Marshall received knowledge and training in primitive Lakota archery and the hunter-warrior philosophy of his people. His first language is Lakota. A free-lance writer, Marshall has published numerous articles in addition to coauthoring the book Soldiers Falling into Camp. He has been a technical advisor and actor in television movies, including Return to Lonesome Dove. Marshall has taught at both high school and college levels.

Also published in French by Editions du Rocher, 1997.

Other books available by Joseph Marshall III:
On Behalf of the Wolf and the First Peoples
$13.95 paper, 1-878610-45-7