'The Prairie Chief' is a Western novel set during the Settlers era, where a Native American chieftain named Whitewing was featured prominently. He was a Red Indian of the North American prairies. Though not a chief of the highest standing, he was a very great man in the estimation of his tribe, for, besides being possessed of qualities which are highly esteemed among all savagessuch as courage, strength, agility, and the likehe was a deep thinker, and held speculative views in regard to the Great Manitou (God), as well as the ordinary affairs of life, which perplexed even the oldest men of his tribe, and induced the younger men to look on him as a profound mystery.