Half-Breed by David Halaas and Andrew Masich

            There are many cliches about having the best of both worlds but what exactly does that mean. Some people are born into different worlds and many times they are not truly accepted into either. In the historical biography, Halfbreed, David Halaas and Andrew Masich tell the story of George Bent. George Bent was a man who was born into the Cheyenne world but also was a part of the white world. His father married an Indian woman. They then gave birth to children and they were known as half-breeds. The thesis of this book is "a man who moved easily between Cheyenne and white worlds, never gaining full acceptance into either." Halaas and Masich do a good job of showing their thesis. They support their thesis well with many examples of how George Bent never gained acceptance in the Cheyenne and white worlds. .
             William Bent grew up near the Mississippi River and got to hear stories of the great explorers that came before him. Hearing this tales, Bent followed in his brothers footsteps and became a trapper. It was clear that the fur trade was dangerous and gave them little profit, so they joined a group of independent traders to Santa Fe. William, however, returned to the mountains. He saved two Cheyenne horse raiders from Bull Hump's Band of Comanche, so he formed an unlikely bond with the Cheyenne. It was here that he met Owl Woman and they would marry.
             George Bent was truly living in two different worlds. He was educated in white schools and was even a soldier in the Confederate army during the Civil War. This separated him from his Cheyenne ancestors because they were educated in the reservations and they never would have fought a battle alongside the white man. His father wanted him to have the education of the white man. This hindered him because this caused friction between him and his Cheyenne ancestors. The big change in his life as a white man was the Sand Creek Massacre. The authors write, "All his life he had felt white arrogance, that smug superiority.