As a young boy, John Slater Engels was forced to go on the run after being implicated in a deadly shoot-out in Virginia City. After months of travel, he finds himself in the mountains of Montana, where he meets Teddy Lightfoot and is invited to take refuge in a Crow village in the Absaroka Mountains. Growing up with the Crow people, Slater comes to know the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains better than any other man. Because of this, he is hired as a scout for the soldiers stationed in Fort Ellis. Life goes smoothly for Slater until he has the misfortune to cross paths with a Sioux war chief named Iron Pony. And to make matters worse, ghosts from his disreputable past surface, forcing him to make some critical decisions--some that may cost him his position, and some that may cost him his life. The author of The Devil's Posse returns with the tale of one man's journey from mines to mountain trails and the dangers hunting him every step of the way.... After gunfire and fear of the law drive him away from his home, young John Slater Engels is forced to seek refuge in the mountains of Montana. There he meets Teddy Lightfoot, who invites the boy to live with his wife and him in a small Crow village nestled in the Absaroka Mountains. In case lawmen are still searching for him, Engels decides to drop his legal name, keeping only his middle name- Slater. As the years go by and Slater grows into manhood, he also becomes an excellent scout-so much so that he's hired to assist the soldiers based out of Fort Ellis. But just when Slater's future begins to look bright, he crosses paths with a dangerous Sioux war chief named Iron Pony, who vows to take his life. And as Slater's past comes back to haunt him, he's forced to make some tough decisions-decisions that may cost him everything he holds dear....