The Frosts of Winter

Why was the American West opened up with such violence while on the Canadian side of the border there was so little? The Frosts of Winter provides an answer in this compelling story of two colliding cultures. Central to the American experience are two historic figures - Sitting Bull, Chief of the Sioux Nation and victor at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The other is Lieutenant-General Philip H. Sheridan, Commanding Officer of the District of the Missouri, former Commander of the Union Army's cavalry during the Civil War and the man who said, "the only good Indians I ever met were dead ones".

Central to the Canadian experience are two equally historic figures Crowfoot, Chief of the Blackfoot Confederacy and Colonel James F. Macleod, Commissioner of the North West Mounted Police. Crowfoot sought a solution to the devastation wrought by smallpox and the illegal whiskey trade that together wiped out nearly half the Blackfoot people. Colonel Macleod arrived in the Canadian North West with a force of less than 300 to bring law and order and end the ravages of the whiskey trade. He had a respect for native peoples and their way of life and over time was able to create an atmosphere of trust that resulted in a friendship with Crowfoot that saved the Canadian federation.

Set in the natural magnificence of the western prairies this novel follows with historic accuracy events on both sides of the border during the decisive years of 1876 and 1877.