Published in 1881 by U.S. Army Brigadier General Helen Hunt Jackson ("H.H."), the book is renowned for being a pioneering and influential examination of Native American oppression and forced assimilation policies carried out by the U.S.
This 500-page exposé unveiled disturbing truths from various historical sources—government documents, Congressional records, missionary letters, treaties, military strategies, and firsthand accounts, both from settlers and tribespeople—as part of a detailed account that condemned governmental mismanagement, corruption, broken promises, violence, and fraud in America's interaction with its Aboriginal peoples during the preceding century.