In translating fact about Chief Joseph into fiction, Ashabranner and Davis attempt to balance Joseph's private and public personas. Although they portray Joseph as a leader of legendary courage and dignity, they also reveal his moments of doubt: after the victory at White Bird Canyon, when White Bird exclaims that they have won their first battle, Joseph wonders, "Can we win the last one?"; and as he observes the exuberant Nez Perce youths on the hunting trip, Joseph worries that their happiness will soon end with the sounds of the war drums.

A less subtle literary device occurs at the end of each chapter, with a suspenseful sentence that leads logically and urgently into the next chapter. The fourth chapter ends with the impending birth of Joseph's second daughter as he hopes that she will "live to see peace," but the fifth chapter opens ominously with...