The title of the book is Paha Sapa Tawoyake: Wade's Stories. I visited with a couple employees at United Tribes Technical College one day last week to establish the Lakota meaning of the title. To the English language it translates Finder of the Black Hills. This does not mean William V. Wade discovered the Black Hills, but on one occasion he accompanied a party of Lakota Indians who were riding to that area to attend a meeting with Washington bureaucrats. One day he was riding on ahead and spotted the Black Hills in the distance and shouted the news back to his companions. Knowing a bit about Indian humor, I'm sure they conferred the title in good-natured fashion.
My wife was born and raised on a ranch immediately adjacent to Wade's ranch south of Raleigh, ND. The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame just a few years ago inducted this ranch, The Anchor Ranch, into the hall of fame in the "historic ranch" category. I have owned an original copy of the book for several years that Wade wrote and began wondering if it shouldn't be republished. I took on the task (with the blessings of a couple of his descendants) and added my own introduction plus an addenda of additional articles of historical significance.
I wrote this comment on the back cover of the book: William V. Wade lived a life of adventure along the MIssouri River when it was still wild country. He knew and interacted with frontiersmen before they became the stereotyped characters we recognize in today's literature. Wade tells stories of Custer, Sitting Bull, Gall, Liver Eatin' Johnson, and others as only one who personally knew them can tell. After marrying and starting a family, he settled down to life as a cattle rancher on the nearby Cannonball River and wrote these accounts near the end of his life.
I am satisfied, even proud of the book's appearance after working with a publishing company that turned out a very professional looking volume and cover design.
