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.