For a white-bread Army brat, it was hard to imagine the life on the Paiute reservation, but the author's words were able to give me a very good, if not very wanted, understanding of just how rough it was - the amenities that we take for granted they didn't even have as an option, like electricity and TVs, and even more importantly, basic medical care.
Flapping Eagle's "don't tick me off" attitude and his dealings with Snowflake, Mike, and especially H-Bomb, made me love him from the get-go. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind and stick up for what he thought was right.
From the beginning where you meet the main characters, to the drunken attempts to ride a drunken H-Bomb while avoiding his big teeth, to the train that was hijacked, the equipment that goes over a cliff, the court proceedings, and the final scenes in Phoenix, the book pulls you into the story and real life takes a back seat until you turn the last page.
I am a voracious reader and this story affected me to the point that even now, 30+ years later, the book is still in the top 10 of my favorite all-time books. Read it. You won't regret it.