All the Buffalo Returning

This sequel to Dorothy M. Johnson’s prize-winning Buffalo Woman continues the story of Grandmother Whirlwind’s family of Hunkpapa and Oglala Sioux who flee to Canada with Sitting Bull after the Battle of the Little Bighorn. All the Buffalo Returning is a haunting novel about the fate of the Lakotas who find no surcease in Canada but are driven back onto their dwindling reservation by starvation. They face the enormous problem of surviving in the world of the white conquerors. Stormy, the grandson of Whirlwind, travels with his family to Pine Ridge for Wovoka’s Ghost Dance. There, true believers who perform the sacred dance will experience the return of the lost buffalo and pony herds as well as the spirits of the beloved dead.

Dorothy M. Johnson grew up in Whitefish, Montana, and pursued a writing career in New York and other diverse locales, before returning to her beloved Montana in the 1950s. She is considered by many to be the dean of women writers of western fiction, and her best works feature strong characters, particularly women and Indians, accuracy of historical and cultural detail, and brevity of style. Her writing awards include a Golden Spur Award from the Western Writers of America, a Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award, and the Western Heritage Wrangler Award.