The White Chief of Cache Creek

Book excerpt: In 1889, Rev. William Work Carithers went to the Kiowa, Comanche, Apache Reservation with two goals in mind. He wanted to bring Christianity to the Indians, and at the same time help them gain skills necessary to survive in the white culture that was about to engulf them. But he had only twelve years before white settlers arrived on the reservation, 30,000 in a single day. The effect on the Indian way of life was devastating. The narrative follows Carithers to the end of his life, when his once successful mission begins to falter, and he assesses just what has been accomplished.