Montana Battlefields: By Barbara Fifer, 284 pages; softbound; $14.95

On Aug. 22, Helena's Farcountry Press will release "Montana Battlefields, 1806-1877: Native Americans and the U.S. Army at War" by writer Barbara Fifer.

"Suppose the people living beyond the great sea would come and tell you that you must stop farming and kill your cattle, and take your houses and lands, what would you do? Would you not fight them?" — Chief Gall of the Hunkpapa Sioux ,outlining their position to a peace commission at Fort Rice in future South Dakota in 1867.

Montana's era of "Indian Wars" began in the early 1800s with the arrival of Euro-American explorers, followed by ever-increasing numbers of settlers moving west. The era ended approximately 70 years later with the U.S. military's steady supply of soldiers, the newly constructed railroads and resultant settlement, and the slaughtering of the buffalo.

Skirmishes, battles, and large-scale wars occurred between the U.S. military and native nations, including Blackfoot, Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Gros Ventre, and Nez Perce-and the army's Crow and Shoshone allies. These battlegrounds remain today, a testament to the clash of cultures that defined the region in the nineteenth century.

Author Barbara Fifer takes readers on a historic journey to the solemn sites of Montana's most fascinating and storied battles, from Two Medicine Creek to the Little Bighorn and on to the Sweetgrass Hills, revealing the engaging tales-from fighters and witnesses on both sides.

Fifer writes and edits from Helena, and is the author of 10 books of popular history and geography.

Copies can be reserved at local books and gift stores.