Plot summary II

Hooch Palmer (Ulysses Brock), a whisky trader, deals his likker to Bill Harrison in Carthage City. On one occasion he meets Andrew Jackson in Harrison's office. Jackson accuses Palmer of having unpaid debts and showed the arrest warrant to Harrison, who ordered his men to put Hooch in a cell. As a governor, Harrison also serves the function of a judge, and so he assumes that role when the day of trial comes. It's just an act to get rid of Jackson, who despises the idea of likkering the Reds up (Harrison's strategy against the Reds) instead of plainly eradicating them with firearms. Lolla-Wossiky, a whisky craving Red (whose father died before his eyes, shot down by Harrison himself), and Ta-Kumsaw (Wossiky's older brother) are also present during the meeting.

As Hooch leaves the city on his boat, Ta-Kumsaw watches him do so. A redbird lands near him and sings, which is a clear sign to the Red that from now on he becomes the chief of all Red tribes in the war against White men. Soon after that, he hears Whites from the city chasing a whisky thief. It turns out that Lolla-Wossiky stole a keg. He finds his brother and the land makes them invisible to the eyes of pursuing White men. As Lolla learns of his brother's new fate, he decides to find his dream beast and heads up north on a lone journey.

Meanwhile, Napoleon Bonaparte arrives in Canada, greeted by Frederic de Maurepas and Gilbert La Fayette, to help out French forces in America.

Lolla-Wossiky makes his way to Vigor Church, where he encouters Alvin. They serve as each other dream beasts. Lolla-Wossiky enlightens Alvin about his powers. In return, the boy cures the Red of black noise in his head (a direct result of witnessing father's murder), which disconneted him from the land. Lolla-Wossiky assumes a new name – Tenskwa-Tawa (meaning 'open door') after having a vision of a crystal city on the shores of a river nearby Vigor Church. He is a prophet, spreading word about Reds unity with the land and separation from White opressors. Tribes follow him and his wisdom, abandoning their addiction to likker and, therefore, strengthening connection with the land. In the very place Tenskwa-Tawa experienced his visions, he established a Red town called Prophetstown.

Shorty thereafter, rumors about a Red prophet reach William Henry Harrison, who at first ridicules the notion, but takes notice when the Reds do not need his likker anymore and Tenskwa-Tawa (who in the past was the a lowly drunk obedient to Harrison's every word) predicts he will lost something he holds the dearest in a fire.

Hooch again arrives in Carthage City with a load of whisky. This time around there is no need for his supply, as the majority of the Reds turned down the likker. On top of that, Harrison makes himself unavailable for Hooch for an entire day, which enrages the trader. Hooch vents his fury on corporal's knee, with whom he talked and who provoked him. He ends up in a cell. Harrison then brings him for a private chat. The governor gives him a choice – either hang for assaulting an officer or bribe a Red tribe with likker, order them to stir up trouble in Vigors Church and leave evidence that points to Tenskwa-Tawa and Ta-Kumsaw. That move will ignite the war between White men and the Reds. Hooch disagrees, for moral reasons, and gets locked up again. Palmer is a spark, though, which means he has the ability to start fires and so he does, setting Harrison's house aflame. The governor losts his wife and child in the fire. Hooch escapes his cell, only to be killed by one of his poleboys - Mike Fink, the meanest of them all, who was bribed by Harrison.

Alvin and his brother Measure begin the trip to Hatrack River, where Alvin is to be an apprentice blacksmith. They are captured by the Reds (working for Harrison to intentionally create conflict) en route. The attackers stain their shirts with blood, carve the names Ta-Kumsaw and Prophet on the saddles, leave the clothes there and send the horses back. They try to torture boys but Alvin's knacks heal the wounds and turn hatchets into harmless tools, preveting the boys from being killed. Miraculously, Ta-Kumsaw tracked Alvin and Measure down and save them just in time. The boys are taken to Tenskwa-Tawa, whom Alvin recognizes. The prophet engulfs Alvin with visions of crystal city. Tenskwa-Tawa understands that the only way to remain in connection with the land is to separate themselves from the White men, which can only be achieved by their own sacrifice and blood. Ta-Kumsaw has a different approach – to fight until there is no White men standing. After four days, they realize that Vigor Church propably assume the boys are dead and attribute the murder to Tenskwa-Tawa and Ta-Kumsaw. Afraid it may initiate a war, Measure is sent home. He is captured by Harrison's scouts. Harrison orders Mike Fink to torture the boy. People from Vigor Church are ready to join the governor in his quest against the Reds.

Alvin and Ta-Kumsaw set off seeking help in their cause. They make a deal with Bonaparte that they will stand together against American forces. Alvin has a dream of Eigh-Face Mound – a sacred place for the Reds. Ta-Kumsaw is obliged to take him to the holy site, where they meet Taleswapper. Alvin climbs one of the mounds.

Harrison forces and Vigor Church people attack Prophetstown. Tenskwa-Tawa gathers his people on a meadow. They do not defend themselves, while White folk slaughter them mercilessly. The blood of the Reds creates streams and flows down the slope of the meadow, right into the Tippy-Canoe Creek. The river turns scarlet.

On the mound, Alvin feeds off the spiritual powers of the sacred place and heals Measure from a great distant, saving his brother from a certain death. After that, Measure rushes to the battlefield to inform his folk it is all a grave misunderstanding, but the massacre is over. Prophet appears and lays a curse on every white man that took part in this slaughter, making their hands run with blood if they do not tell the story of what happened to strangers. Harrison is exposed as the evil behind it. The blood of victims in the river forms a barrier that White men can never cross and so the prophecy is fulfilled. White men have the east of the great river, while the Reds stay west, not tainted by the decay and destruction White men bring.

Ta-Kumsaw and Alvin prowl the land, spreading word of what happened, uniting the Reds under the leadership of Ta-Kumsaw. When the battle against Americans (led by Andrew Jackson) is about to begin, Gilbert La Fayette orders Frederick to arrest Bonaparte giving him an amulet beforehand to resist Napoleon's knack for charming people around him. Frederick breaks the spell and relieves Napoleon off duty, sending him with La Fayette back to France for trial (which was La Fayette scheme from the very beginning – to come back home with Napoleon and start a revolution with him leading the troops). Ta-Kumsaw deal with Napoleon is off, as the general is not in charge anymore. Without the weapons Bonaparte was supposed to equip the Reds with, the chances of success withered rapidly. Americans won the battle, almost killing Ta-Kumsaw, who ultimately is healed by Alvin and returns to his brother, west of the great river. Alvin finally returns home, an entirely different boy.