Product Info

Young and old readers will warm to this story of the last days of the Ute Indians in the land of the Shining Mountains, as told by Flying Horse Mollie, a Native American teenager. Through Mollie’s eyes, the reader catches more than a glimpse of Indian culture on the cusp of change.

Mollie escorts the reader through the seasons, as the band winters on the White River Reservation near present-day Meeker, and summers along the Yampa River near present-day Steamboat Springs.

“I think this was the happiest time of the year for the Yampa Ute,” Mollie says. “They were home. This was their valley. They would spend the summer in the two things they loved most – hunting and racing. There was no place on Earth like this Yampa Valley, we were sure.”

Just as the reader falls into step with the rhythm of Mollie’s life, with its sense of community and nature-embracing customs, all is tossed on the winds of change. As easterners increase their demand for land, government leaders such as Colorado Governor Frederick Pitkin, with the help of Denver Post editor William B. Vickers, instigate a political campaign with one agenda – “The Utes Must Go!”

The reader then hurtles through the events which ultimately bring Mollie and her kin to their knees and drive them from their ancestral home of 500 years. This compelling tale transcends these events to shed light on the story of displaced peoples everywhere, particularly children, who grapple with prejudice, persecution and betrayal even as they are struggling to reach maturity.

In Blood on the Wind, Mollie travels a painful road from childhood to adulthood, sharing her fears for her future, her disappointments in the adults who fail to protect her, and her sadness in the face of loss. But, with youthful optimism, she clings to hope.

Lucile Maxfield Bogue was born and raised in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and celebrates her 90th birthday this year. She describes her life as exciting, having taught school in nine countries