5 Reasons You Should Read Buckskin Brigades by L. Ron Hubbard

There are books that tell history and there are books that make you experience history. Buckskin Brigades is one of those rare novels that does both. When it first appeared in 1937, it startled readers with a perspective they’d never encountered: the story of the American frontier told not from the settlers’ point of view, but from the eyes of the Blackfeet Nation.

It was bold writing then and it is essential reading now. Here are five reasons why this novel deserves a place on your reading list today.

1. It Flips the Frontier Story on Its Head

The American frontier has long been romanticized with brave explorers, savage natives, and the wilderness a prize to be won. L. Ron Hubbard turned that story inside out. The protagonist, Yellow Hair, is a white man raised by the Blackfeet. To him, the “savages” are the invaders, the pale-skinned men crossing into his homeland, bringing disease and calamity.

This reversal of viewpoint wasn’t just fresh; it was subversive. Buckskin Brigades invites readers to feel the sting of conquest and to understand what it means to defend one’s people, no matter their color.

2. Historical Fiction with a Heartbeat

Ron didn’t invent the setting, he factually unearthed it through his “search for research.” The story is woven through the real events of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In the explorers’ own journals, there’s a haunting note on 27 July 1806 about a native man killed by the Corps of Discovery. That faint line of history became the spark for this entire novel. For more information about the fateful encounter, go to the Two Medicine Fight Site.

The result? A story where fact and fiction merge seamlessly—adventure laced with authenticity, set against one of the most consequential journeys in American history.

3. Decades Ahead of Its Time

In 1937, almost no one was writing sympathetically—let alone intelligently—about Native Americans. Ref. “L. N. Cotton 2008 Thesis: American Indian stereotypes in early western literature and the lasting influence on American culture. Hubbard did. His portrayal of the Blackfeet was respectful, layered, and vividly human. In fact, his publisher trimmed passages that were deemed “too critical” of the white explorers. A move that only underscores how ahead of his time he was. The edited sections have since been re-instated in later editions.

Long before “cultural perspective” became a buzzword, Buckskin Brigades was already practicing it.

4. A Story of Identity and Belonging

Yellow Hair’s struggle isn’t just about survival, it is about selfhood. Raised by one people but born of another, he lives between two worlds. The story asks questions that are as alive today as ever: What makes a person who they are? Is it blood, belief, or the love of those who raised them?

It’s also about the bonds that shape the soul, including Yellow Hair’s deep resolve to make Bright Star his “sits-beside-him woman,” whose spirit embodies the very people who made him who he is.

That emotional core—the tug between heritage and humanity—is what gives Buckskin Brigades its lasting strength.

5. It Challenges the Myths We Inherited

History, as we were taught it, often comes from the victors’ pens. Buckskin Brigades invites us to read between the lines to see how arrogance, greed, and cultural blindness reshaped a continent. But it doesn’t wallow in guilt; it offers understanding.

By the end, you’ll see early America through new eyes and you will be better for it.

Why It Still Matters

This was L. Ron Hubbard’s first published novel, written when he was just twenty-six years old, already showing the scope of his imagination and the independence of his thought. Long before it was fashionable, he dared to tell the untold side of the American story.

Buckskin Brigades isn’t just a novel. It’s a reflective lens that lets us see the frontier not as legend, but as lived experience.

Step Into the Story

If you love historical fiction with depth, courage, and a heartbeat, Buckskin Brigades will surprise you. It’s adventure with a conscience—a story that rides across history’s open plains and into questions that still matter today.

You can find Buckskin Brigades wherever classic literature is sold, or directly from Galaxy Press. Step into Yellow Hair’s world and rediscover the frontier from the other side of history.

The Editors, November 2025