A father and son, whose lives were tattered by divorce and addiction, reunite and move to a new city to start over. They receive a strange inheritance from an unknown ancestor who died eighty years before-Valentine T. McGillycuddy-the first topographer of the Black Hills in South Dakota, a field surgeon during the Indian Wars, the first Indian Agent at Pine Ridge, and the self-proclaimed "Friend of Crazy Horse." To collect on their inheritance, they learn they must climb the tallest peak in the Black Hills. Along their journey, father and son discover the West, themselves, their relationship with each other, and the secrets of Valentine McGillycuddy, that if told, will dramatically change our understanding of the life of Crazy Horse and American history.