"The Indian surpasses our soldier in all combat qualities, with the exception of discipline," many American officers recognized, considering the redskins the best cavalry in the world. It took the regular U.S. Army more than half a century to defeat them. Why did the fighting against the "savages" drag on so long, and the "military strategy of civilized peoples" turned out to be virtually useless in the Wild West? How did the Indians of the Great Plains manage to restrain superior enemy forces for decades and smash West Point graduates more than once? What is the meaning of the Indian proverb "Today is a good day to die" and what did the famous Sioux leader Sitting Bull mean when he said: "The pale-faced, in my opinion, have no heart - they are like inanimate"?