Wow, so I don't normally review Pulp Westerns because they are supposed to be quick, fast, simple, fun reads, but this one isn't even close to that. Maybe because it is a Giant, but I don't believe I have had that problem before. This one took me like a month to read. In the parlance of today, Longarm was boring as F-! He'd be cogitating and cogitating and cogitating some more; sometimes with other lawmen, sometimes with country and townfolk, and sometimes with his horses, but he never seemed to ever get his fill. This was one big mystery that had our Curtis Long stumped something good, and it was about the slowest developing story ever.

If you ever wanted to spend hours and hours trying to sort out each and every Native American tribe and dialect of Plains and Eastern Woodland Indians as well as the multi-factored "breeds and assimilants" and every possible combination thereof, and how they all get mixed together and sorted – maybe – in Longarm's mind while he cogitates then this is your book.

There are a few interesting historical figures added to the story, like Ezra Cornell, Harriet Tubman, and Allan Pinkerton among others, but those were a few lines at most. All I can really say is: man, this was a long, tough read. ( )