Black Otter, the son of Lone Bull, a Pikuni, Blackfoot Indian cast out from his tribe for breaking the hunting rules and forced to wander the wilderness in search of redemption, retells his remarkable story to James Willard Schultz and uncovers the harsh life that faced him and his family during their time in the wilderness.

An elderly Blackfeet warrior tells the story of his youth, when his tribe owned and lived free on the great plains at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. During those days of freedom and plenty, they hunted the vast herds of buffalo, worshipped their ancient gods, and sought glory in war parties against their traditional tribal enemies. In order to achieve his adulthood in the tribe, Little Otter must face the dangerous vision quest to find his sacred helper and then risk death as a member of a daring war party. Most of all, though, Little Otter wants to become a Sun priest.

J. W. Schultz (1859-1947) was an author, explorer, and historian who lived among the Blackfeet as a fur trader. In his famous book Rising Wolf, Schultz tells the story of Hugh Monroe who came to the Blackfoot country when he was 16 and was adopted into the Blackfeet tribe. He accompanied war parties, took part in buffalo hunts, and helped to make peace between the Crows and Blackfeet. 

I have marked the winters upon the edge of this ancient bow of mine. It was my grandfather's bow; he made it in the days of his youth, and in his old age gave it to me. I made this first little crease in it to mark my eighteenth winter, the winter in which I for the first time met the enemy they were a war party of Crows and fought them, and took my first scalp. Count the creases; see, there are five tens, and one; it is, then, just fifty winters ago this very Moon of New Grass that we experienced a day of terrible disasters.

Fifty Years on the Trail is the true story of John Young Nelson (1826-1903), an early frontiersman, military scout, interpreter, guide, and saloon owner. Nelson ran away from home as a young teenager to adventure in the west. He worked on farms, served as a cabin boy on a Mississippi steamer, and became an apprentice with a group of traders traveling west from Missouri. After meeting a band of Sioux, he got himself adopted into the tribe, learned how to live off the land and became a Sioux warrior.