The memoirs of Jack Crabb. He had been kidnapped by Cheyennes when he was 10. They had massacred Crabb’s family as they headed west. He lived with them for five years, then ditched them during a battle with troops. He was adopted by a Kansas City Preacher, Mr. Pendrake and his wife, but soon left and headed back west where he took up with a Spanish lady in Santa Fe for a while. He met up with his Indian father, Old Lodge Skins once in a while, then set up in business in Denver and married Olga, a Swedish girl. She was kidnapped during an Indian raid and he vowed to find her. He tracked down the Cheyennes and arrived just as the tribe was attacked. He met an Indian girl named Sunshine and lived with her for a while until she disappeared during Custer’s massacre of the Indians at Washita. Crabb vowed to kill Custer but chickened out and headed to Omaha where he met Wild Bill Hickock. The two became friends, and Hickock taught Crabb how to gunfight. Crabb met a hooker named Amelia who convinced him she was his niece. He took care of her, set her up in a ladies’ school and saw her marry the son of a senator (whereupon she admitted she wasn’t his niece). Crabb worked as a buffalo hunter for a while, then ended up in Montana during Custer’s campaign against the Sioux. He joins the force as a teamster and was the last man to see Custer alive. He is wounded, but saved by his old Indian buddies. He goes with Old Lodge Skins until he dies. At this point, the 111-year-old Crabb dies and his memoir ends.

This book was very similar to Flashman and the Redskins, with many of the same characters and events. I’m surprised Flashman and Crabb didn’t meet. Crabb isn’t quite the rascal that Flashman is. He is more inclined to just let things happen to him. The book was interesting, but not quite funny and I didn’t really care a great deal for any of the characters because none of them had any purpose in life.