Paul VanDevelder is a featured author on Smithsonian.com’s History and Archeology page this week, giving readers a sneak peek at his new book, Savages and Scoundrels: The Untold Story of America’s Road to Empire through Indian Territory. His latest post sets the scene on what the tribes called “The Great Smoke”, “a month-long spectacle of feasting and negotiating” that took place in 1851 at Horse Creek in the Nebraska Territory. The treaty drafted there established peace along the Oregon Trail and political boundaries on a dozen new tribal homelands and was later ratified by the United States Senate. Unfortunately, this moment of peaceful alliance wouldn’t last long.

The 1851 treaty at Horse Creek plays a key role in VanDevelder’s history of the American government’s fraudluent dealings with native tribes. Those taken by VanDevelder’s rollicking style of writing can look forward to further posts on Smithsonian.com and Powells.com. In the meantime, head over to yalebooks.com to check out another excerpt.