of the Blackfeet have been killed by smallpox. With gifts Boone manages to convince Teal Eye's brother, now the chief since the death of their father, to let him have Teal Eye, who uses sign language to tell Boone that she loves him. Jim Deakins, Teal Eye and Boone live peacefully within the tribe, Boone finally feeling as if he's found a place to fit in. Teal Eye eventually gets pregnant, to Boone's joy. However, when the child is born, he is blind. He also has red hair, like Boone's closest friend Jim Deakins. Believing Teal Eye cheated on him, Boone is crushed. He proceeds to kill Jim Deakins and leave Teal Eye, fleeing back east. When Boone arrives back in Kentucky, his mother notes that there have been red heads in their family. Boone cannot tolerate his confusion and the settled life and mores in Kentucky and, depending on one's point of view, either seduces or rapes a young neighbor girl, who despite her sobbing asks when they'll get married. That same night he flees west: "He didn't realize he was running until he saw [his dog] trotting to keep up." Boone stops at Dick Summers's farm in Missouri. In a theme repeated throughout Guthrie's trilogy, Boone refers to the destruction of the pristine West the first whites had known: "It's all sp'iled, I reckon, Dick. The whole caboodle." Boone blurts out that he killed Jim Deakins: "This here hand done it. ... I kilt Jim." Rather than spend even that one night with Dick Summers, Boone Caudill flees out the door. References External links Partial online text 1947 American novels Blackfoot in popular culture Western (genre) novels Pre-statehood history of Montana Novels by A. B. Guthrie Jr. Novels set in Kentucky Novels set in Missouri Novels set in Montana Books about Native Americans 19th century in Montana American novels adapted into films