No Good Day to Die

Only the earth and sky last forever.

A riveting historical narrative relevant for contemporary times. This sweeping saga of early America follows a cast of historical and fictional characters who have the fight of clashing cultures thrust upon them in unknowable ways. It reveals a haunting image of human perseverance, the injustice humans will commit to fight for their way of life, and in the end, the compassion and forgiveness that comes from time and understanding.

A Northern Cheyenne boy, Kills the Sun, is born during a solar eclipse. Throughout his young life he struggles to find his place in the tribe. He is intelligent, but also timid. At fifteen, in the year 1876, he has courage thrust upon him and fights in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. After several more battles, he later guides Teddy Roosevelt on a hunting trip in the mountains and saves him from a bear attack. After learning to speak English, he volunteers for the U.S. Army under the name Robert Killsun, and fights in the Spanish American War. During a visit to California in 1918, he meets a movie producer, goes to Hollywood, and
performs in many Westerns, but quits after realizing how Hollywood depicts Native Americans. On August 6th, 1945, he returns to the Little Bighorn Battlefield with his grandson.

Rob Southerland is born on a sprawling southern plantation. He fights for the Confederate Army in the Civil War, and then returns home to find his family slain and their land confiscated. He goes to New Orleans, marries a beautiful redheaded Creole girl named Jackie, and later serves as Deputy Marshall in Abilene, Kansas, working directly under Wild Bill Hickok. During a buffalo hunt, he and Jackie meet the boy Kills the Sun and become friends. Rob and Jackie move east and open a saloon in Bismarck, North Dakota, but go broke during the Panic of 1873. With no money and no prospects, Rob joins the 7th Cavalry, led by General Custer, and rides with them to the Little Bighorn.

On August 6th, 1945 (the day of the atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima), Rob Southerland's grandson visits the historic site of the
Battle of the Little Bighorn. Here he meets an elderly Northern Cheyenne man named Robert Killsun, and they engage in a revealing discourse of information that leaves them both struck in a juxtaposition of remorse and understanding.