I have no doubt that someday soon talented and trained historians will record everything associated with the unique story told in these pages. The present author is not a historian. He makes no pretense of having set down a detailed or definitive historical picture of this turbulent period.
Yet, so powerful was the impact of these events upon me when I first encountered them that I felt impelled to share as much as lay within my power, however inadequate the attempt. I have outlined only a few of the more arresting themes running through the whole remarkable drama.
Future historians will properly evaluate these events, and will undoubtedly recognize in this story some of the chief motivations for many of the revolutionary changes that have taken place in the world since the middle of the nineteenth century.
William Sears
“Cherokee Smoke”
Palm Springs, California
November 12, 1969