A brilliant military strategist Red Cloud honed his skills against his tribe s traditional enemies -- the Pawnees Shoshones Arikaras and Crows -- long before he fought to close the Bozeman Trail. Here for the first time in print is Red Cloud s as-told-to autobiography where he shares the story of his early years. This manuscript -- which has rested ignored for decades at the Nebraska State Historical Society -- brings us closer than the historical record has yet allowed to understanding the life of one of the Sioux s greatest war leaders.