James Willard Schultz 
The Trail of the Spanish Horse 

‘In the Trail of the Spanish Horse…they escape a hostile band…captured and by the quick use of their wits induce the chief to spare their lives.’ -Oakland Tribune, Oct. 1, 1922

‘James Willard Schultz , a white man … adopted into the Blackfeet tribe, spent his adult years recording their stories.’ -Frontier Diplomats (2004)

‘My great-grandfather…a Blackfoot warrior…would tell Schultz about war parties, hunting parties and different things the Blackfoot had done.’ -Chokecherry Places: Essays from the High Plains (1998)

The Trail of a Spanish Horse is a thrilling Indian story written by a famous old-time frontiersman James Willard Schultz, (1859 to 1947). Schultz was a noted author, explorer, Glacier National Park guide, fur trader and historian of the Blackfoot Indians. While operating a fur trading post at Carroll, Montana and living amongst the Pikuni tribe during the period 1880-82, he was given the name ‘Apikuni’ by the Pikuni chief, Running Crane. Schultz is most noted for his prolific stories about Blackfoot life and his contributions to the naming of prominent features in Glacier National Park.

Written over 100 years ago, The Trail of the Spanish Horse is a well-paced, suspenseful story particularly for the reader who delights in the adventurous life of the Plains. The author who was an adopted member of the Blackfoot tribe and married to a Blackfoot woman, describes the life, customs, and beliefs of his Indian companions with the keenness of an anthropologist.

In Trail of the Spanish Horse, Tom Fox and Pitam Akan play a prominent role. Tom loses his uncle’s valuable horse and in an effort to locate the animal meets with all kinds of adversity. Their true story of escape, survival, and triumph is spectacular.