Other editions of book When the Legends Die, a novel

When his father killed another brave, Thomas Black Bull and his parents sought refuge in the wilderness. There they took up life as it had been in the old days, hunting and fishing, battling for survival. But an accident claimed the father's life and the grieving mother died shortly afterward. Left alone, the young Indian boy vowed never to retum to the white man's world, to the alien laws that had condemned his father.

From a review: A common nation, the Indian nation, in 1912 was struggling to assimilate. After a repeated robbery one Indian man, Jim Black Bull, set out to kill this robber and fellow Indian. He knew he had to flee civilization due to the white mans laws so he took his wife and son into the mountains to live the old way. After only a year the father died and it was up to the young boy, Bears Brother, and his mother to survive. The mother survived for only another three years before she died of a common flu. It was then up to the boy to use what he had learned from his parents to survive. He lived for several years in the mountains until an old family friend set out to find Bears Brother, which he eventually did. This new learning and living environment was new and scary. He had to adjust to his new life; his new name which was Thomas and his new religion, Christianity. He had such a hard time assimilating he went to live with a sheepherder to help care for sheep. All though he did well at this he did not like it and when a man asked him if he wanted to be a bronco rider he quickly accepted. He had found his calling as Devil Tom the bronco rider who rode horses to the death. For many years he won just enough to live comfortably and he quickly became a legend. He eventually would go back to the mountains to rediscover whom he really was inside. When The Legends Die opens the reads' eyes to see what it was like to be an Indian at the turn of the century. It shows the hardships that they had to bear due to the white men. The descriptions in the book are so vivid that you feel like you are there experiencing it for yourself. This bold book is exciting, thought provoking and at times quiet humorous. This book makes you laugh, frown, gasp, and cheer out loud.

A young Native American walks between the lonesome forest where he was raised and the complicated modern world he must navigate to survive Thomas Black Bull’s parents forsook the life of a modern reservation and took to ancient paths in the woods, teaching their young son the stories and customs of his ancestors. But Tom’s life changes forever when he loses his father in a tragic accident and his mother dies shortly afterward. When Tom is discovered alone in the forest with only a bear cub as a companion, life becomes difficult. Soon, well-meaning teachers endeavor to reform him, a rodeo attempts to turn him into an act, and nearly everyone he meets tries to take control of his life. Powerful and timeless, When the Legends Die is a captivating story of one boy learning to live in harmony with both civilization and wilderness.