One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd

This notebook covers November 1875 to March 1876 in the Cheyenne winter camp. A conflict emerges between May, who favors assimilation, and Phemie, who resists it. Defying tradition, May and Gretchen build a sweat lodge for the women. A crisis occurs when Quiet One, one of Little Wolf’s wives, bakes bread with arsenic, poisoning several people. Little Wolf bans the substance from the camp.

On Christmas Day, May gets lost in a blizzard and is rescued by Horse Boy, but she develops severe pneumonia. During her recovery, she gives premature birth to a white baby girl. She recognizes the child, whom she names Wren, as the daughter of Captain Bourke. Little Wolf, however, accepts the infant as his own, and the tribe reveres her as a sacred figure. May records the event with exhaustion and awe, aware that Wren’s mixed parentage could endanger them all.

Gertie arrives with a letter from Captain Bourke, warning that an army attack is imminent. Shortly after, Kit Fox warriors return from a raid with the severed right hands of Shoshone infants. The white women are appalled and seek guidance from Brother Anthony. At dawn on March 1, US troops attack the village. During the assault, Captain Bourke shoots and kills Horse Boy.