Don Coldsmith

When strange temporal ghosts of the past and future begin wreaking havoc in the present, Soldier Zero tracks down Ronald Lessik, aka the Traveler, believing him responsible, amd Ronald must convince Soldier Zero of his innocence while tracking down the real cause.

Book 1 of the Spanish Bit Saga series. Juan Garcia rode as an arrogant conquistador into the heart of an unexplored continent. One day, on a lone patrol, he was injured and lost. He knew he had little chance of surviving or of ever returning to his homeland. but what happened from that day forward made a different man of Juan Garcia. He embarked upon a greater adventure than any he could have imagined. For instead of hostility, he discovered a people who showed him a new way of life and he, in turn, brought them a talisman, the Spanish Bit, that forever transformed their society.

"A continuation of Don Coldsmith's Spanish Bit series, The Lost Band traces the saga of the People, a fictional nation of American Plains Indians in the late eighteenth century. Annually the People celebrate the Sun Dance, and each year the Council circle leaves an empty place of honor for the Lost Band, whose members disappeared and are presumed killed in a genocidal raid in the Great Plains two hundred years earlier. This group is the Lost Band, their fate an ongoing mystery in the history of the People.". "In The Lost Band, Story Keeper, chief of the Forest Band, unravels the puzzle when he makes a sudden and dramatic appearance. To claim the empty place at the Council table, Story Keeper must recount the fate of the Lost Band. The story begins as White Moon and her adopted child are gradually embraced by a childless couple whose people have abducted the last of the Band. At the same time, White Moon's friend Turkey Hen becomes the Second Wife of her captor. Turkey Hen enjoys her status and is willing to sacrifice her heritage for security. White Moon, however, is determined to return the Lost Band to their seat in the Council circle. She secretly struggles to keep the traditions of the Forest Band alive."--BOOK JACKET.

Pipe Bearer, a young holy man of the Elk Dog People, sets out with his wife, Otter Woman, on a vision quest to find the meaning of the sacred coloring on a foal born to his mare. The colt bears markings resembling the headdress of a holy man, the medicine hat. Traveling in the guise of a trader, he leads Otter through the country of the Cheyenne and Arapaho and into the homelands of the Crow and Blackfeet and the enemies of those tribes, the Sioux. When fire strikes the plains, the young couple are joined in their desperate flight to safety by the Arapaho trader, Lone Walker, and his beautiful and courageous Lakota wife, Plum Blossom. Always seeking clues to the meaning of the medicine hat colt, the four meet and observe the customs of many bands. Driven by fate and circumstance, Pipe Bearer and Otter must make life-and-death choices to survive their hazardous quest.

Coldsmith tells the story of Pale Star, who is kidnapped as a child. Pale Star bravely undertakes an incredible journey to thwart her enemy's attempts to steal the supernatural power she has inherited from her revered ancestors and return to her people.

The Spanish Bit Saga, Book 3. Don Pedro Garcia impatiently measured time in the number of forced marches the horses could endure. He was an old man now, and he wanted to see his son who, rumor had it, was alive among the Indians of the Great Plains. Don Pedro's lieutenant, Ramon Cabeza, was also troubled, for no matter how fast the search party traveled, the Indians always seemed to know their movements days in advance. What neither man knew for certain was that Don Pedro's son was alive (now a chief among the Elk-dog band), and that the feared head Splitters were preparing to make war upon the intruders who had violated their lands.

A semi-historical novel set in 1844, the time of the Westward expansion. Central in the story is the Booth family. Gabe Booth, a mountain man and scout, joins up with John Charles Fremont. This is a tale of the push to open the West to settlers and the struggle against the Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, and Arapahoe Indians who fight desperately to save their ancient civilization.

"In the recent past, the People lived in fear, constantly pursued by their ancient enemies, the Head Splitters. But that was before Spaniard Juan Garcia arrived, bringing horses, Elk-Dogs. He taught his adopted people to ride and fight, to defy death and be victorious. Slowly, at first, they learned the ways of the magnificent animals that Garcia brought them."--Jacket.

Taking a break from his Spanish Bit Saga (Bearer of the Pipe, etc.), Coldsmith delivers a meticulously detailed, sweeping tale of Native American life and the gradual encroachment by the white man's world. Covering nearly 300 years of North American prairie history, the novel consists of seven loosely connected stories. The first begins in 1541, when the Spanish arrive on the continent and peacefully encounter the Pani tribe. At this time, Heron Woman conceives a child with a Spaniard, the first of many unions in the book. More than 100 years later, tensions arise between the natives and the settlers, resulting in conflict and massacre. The stories continue with a French ambassador in 1724; the heirs of Lewis and Clark and further expeditions in the West; the legacy of Daniel Boone; and the opening of commerce and the Santa Fe Trail in the 1820s. They end in 1835, when a Princeton dropout, who has been living with a Native American tribe, returns home to ""civilization"" for a brief visit. Coldsmith is a master storyteller, who here offers a colorful and clever lesson in history, bringing to life the experience of people discovering, trusting and adapting to each other in uncertain and wondrous times. (Apr.)