A Good Man, an epic historical novel by Guy Vanderhaeghe, takes place mostly in the western United States shortly after the Sioux victory at Little Bighorn in the late 1800s.

Wesley Case bears the burden of being a big disappointment to his father, a Canadian lumber baron. He joins the North West Mounted Police and while with them experiences a tragedy that will haunt him the rest of his life. He settles in Montana, buys a cattle ranch while serving as a liaison between the United States and Canadian militaries in an effort to contain Native Americans.

Ada Tarr, recently widowed, is Case’s neighbor and teaches school to augment her dwindling finances. Wesley and Ada fall in love, but their romance is threatened by a secret admirer of Ada’s, a man who comes across as a bungling ne’er-do-well, but who actually commits evil acts toward anyone who gets in his way.

While Case works with American and Canadian militaries, he befriends Sitting Bull, a Lakota Sioux warrior. Case sees the humiliation Natives experience, and sympathizes with their betrayal by the whites. He witnesses starvation among the tribes as whites systematically kill the buffalo, either by shooting them or burning fields where they graze. Case sees the mistrust resulting from lies, broken treaties, and the unreasonable demand that Indians live on reservations, giving up their way of life.

A Good Man is an earthy, realistic novel of depth. Vanderhaeghe, a Canadian, paints a stark picture of the plight of Indians and their resulting bitterness. Battle scenes are shown in vivid detail. The author’s extensive research has brought to light the attitudes and realities of the times, a period of mistrust and deceit. I highly recommend this novel to those who yearn for the truth of those violent years.