Customer Reviews

Peacock Ore

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This "Indians vs. the White Man" thriller is based on a real-life cavalry man in the 1870s who found ore of precious metals ("peacock ore" contains gold, silver, and copper, and it oxidizes to blue-green colors) in Indian territory in New Mexico. He stakes the claim despite the known dangers.

The story focuses on the struggle for the land - a struggle that is life-and-death for the Indians and "only" about wealth for the white characters. The author alternates point-of-view, between white and Indian, and does a great job of portraying both the acquisitive white culture and the mystical Native American culture as they would each want to be portrayed - in contrast to this reviewer, who feels judgmental about the whites. (Actually, of course, being white, I can only guess that Indians would find the treatment sympathetic, but it seems to me they would.)

Anyway, it's an exciting tale of vivid characters on the frontier, coping with horses, explosives, shoot-outs, and the amazing new wealth of the miners. It's full of local color, including the canyons, deserts, and hot springs of southwestern New Mexico. The Indians still get [swindeled], of course, but at least they are portrayed magnificently in the process.