When Red Dress is a baby, two snakes slither beside her. Her mother is terrified to see this, but the snakes do not bite the child. Red Dress is unaware of the danger and holds the rattlesnakes as if they are toys. When the snakes leave, the women realize the little one is “beloved of snakes” (240).

When Red Dress reaches maturity in 1835, her band of Sioux is experiencing the beginnings of colonization. A priest has come to convert the people, but no one shows much interest, least of all Ghost Horse, who mocks the priest with his contrary ways.

Red Dress has a dream, instructing her to go to Fort Laramie. Before departing, she climbs Angry Butte to pray. Atop the butte, she trips on two perfectly smooth, round stones. She takes them home and paints them red, “the color of life” (248).

She leaves for the fort with her brother, Long Chase, and Spotted Dog.

When she arrives, she takes a Christian identity and goes by Esther. She blends in, to a degree, with the white community. She becomes secretary to Reverend Pyke and assists with a production of Macbeth. However, life in the community changes when Red Dress places her sacred stones among weeds.