The Long Death recounts the last years of the Plains Indians and is a tragic ndictment of white civilization and the endless breaking of treaties. When the agrarian Indians of the eastern U.S. were herded into the barren plains territory, first plague in the form of smallpox and then famine decimated the original 90,000. Subjected to the brutal treatment of the Army and at the mercy of grafting agents, it was inevitable that the Indians would turn to raiding wagon trains. The Battle of Little Big Horn can be traced to these conditions and Custer's Last Stand is detailed without any trace of saloon art during the final tragedy. The last Indian losses at Wounded Knee Creek in 1890 left the Indians with a terminal disillusionment from which they never recovered. The Long Death is an impressive history of misery.