Buffalo Nickel by C.W. Smith

Interlaced with Kiowa legends that make the story a vivid tapestry of fable and fact, Buffalo Nickel is an all-American novel of love, money, and race—and an epic work of historical imagination. At its heart is a rags-to-riches story of an Indian who becomes an oil-rich millionaire overnight and the two women who vie for his money or his love, one of whom hopes to parlay his fortune into movie stardom while the other hopes to save him from greedy predators and restore him to his true Native American identity. -- “This is a western novel in the most positive sense, a book that reveals a moment in history even as it tells a story of cultural alienation, love, greed, betrayal and longing.….Though the book spans just 25 years, the emotional and physical distances Smith's characters travel are immense, and his loving narrative makes Buffalo Nickel a compelling read.” Publishers Weekly