Trail of the Spanish Bit: Spanish Bit Saga, Number 1

This is the best book i have ever read and the whole Spanish Bit Saga is GREAT!!! You can't go wrong. Don Coldsmith has a gift of painting a picture of how it was. You will feel true emotion for the Native Americans. You have got to read it, you wont put it down and you will want to go out and get the next one.

Anyone who has held an antique in hand and felt the magnetic pull of the history of the object will enjoy this book. I had not previously been a student of Native American history or a fan of the western book genre, but Coldsmith succeeds in creating characters to whom I could relate as fellow human beings. The device of linking past to present through the spanish bit is ingenious.

In "Trail of the Spanish Bit," physician Don Coldsmith brings to life an interesting and varied cast of characters as they very well might have been at the time of early European contact with North America's native peoples. Coldsmith's "Elk Dog People" are a prairie native nation that is a composite of a number of horse culture tribes. However, when they first encounter "Heads Off," the marooned Conquistador, the People are part of a pedestrian, stone age culture. For better or worse, this first Euro contact changes the People and their way of life forever.Coldsmith is an excellent story-teller. His characters are well-developed and not the cardboard stereotypes usually associated with the genre. Dr. Coldsmith is a literary talent with a great imagination.If you have any interest whatever in Native Americans or western history, buy this book!

I had ordered this book at random, looking for a good story about native Americans. I received it early in the morning and started reading it right away... I didn't stop until it was finished. What a great novel! After finishing it, I went straight on-line and ordered all other Coldsmith novels that were available. I'm a Coldsmith convert!

Forget all the cowboy and indian stories you've read. This is a story of the People of the plains told from their point of view. I've read the series twice and enjoyed it immensely both times. The character development is superb. You will become a part of their culture.