A narrative nonfiction that recalls the 1912 football match-up between the Carlisle Indian School and the Army team of West Point, featuring two of the most prominent individuals in history--Jim Thorpe and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The thrill of possibility -- Shot like buffalo -- Pop learns from Ma -- The trickiest play -- What an Indian can do -- There's just no future in the army -- He is certainly a wild Indian -- A couple of well-paid amateurs -- A brutal, savage, murderous sport -- Beast barracks and a beast on the field -- A real American if there ever was one -- Chief Thorpe and the huge Kansan -- The clash of heroes -- The dead Indian and another wounded knee -- Epilogue: the ghosts of Carlisle.