Background
Chalfant, William Young was born on October 3, 1928 in Hutchinson, Kansas, United States. Son of Claude Edward and Junia Maurine (Young) Chalfant.
( The first major battle between the U.S. Army and the Ch...)
The first major battle between the U.S. Army and the Cheyenne Indians took place on the south fork of the Solomon River in present-day northwest Kansas. In this stirring account, William Y. Chalfant recreates the human dimensions of what was probably the only large-unit sabre charge against the Plains tribes, in a battle that was as much a clash of cultures as of cavalry and Cheyenne warriors. In May 1857 the U. S. First Cavalry, under Col. E. V. Summer, had marched out of Fort Leavenworth to find and severely punish” the Cheyennes for their attacks on immigrants and other travelers during the previous yearattacks precipitated largely by the army’s earlier assaults on the Cheyennes. Two columns of soldiers moved westward, penetrating the territory of the southern bands of Cheyennes between the Santa Fe and Oregon-California trails, where few whites had been before. When the cavalry columns were reunited, early in July, the combined forces left their supply train behind and marched southeast across the plains. They were braving the extreme heat of summer with limited rations and little water when they finally met their quarry on the south fork of the Solomon. Resplendent in war finery, the Cheyennes had formed a grand line of battle such as was never again seen in the Plains Indian wars. William Chalfant recaptures the drama of the confrontation in his narrative: As one the troopers reached down, and then 300 sabres arced above them, the bright afternoon sunshine flashing across the burnished steel as if the air were torn by a shower of flame. For an instant the blades were held aloft, then came down to the tierce point. At the same time the troopers gave out a mighty yell. And so they thundered across the valley of the Solomon, directly at the oncoming Cheyennes.” In terms of history, the First Cavalry’s campaign against the Cheyennes was a microcosm of relations between white civilization and Plains Indian. This exciting narrative penetrates the Indian and white cultures to show the battle marked the end of one era in Indian-white relations and the beginning of another.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080613500X/?tag=2022091-20
(The year is 1939 and Canada has just entered the war agai...)
The year is 1939 and Canada has just entered the war against Germany. The Germans conquered almost all of Europe and were poised to invade France or Great Britain. America attempts to remain neutral amid a growing feeling that it needs to be involved. To avoid being implicated in armed robbery, Paul Fortier leaves New York to live with his relatives in Quebec. He joins the Royal Canadian Air Force when he turns eighteen and is loaned to the RAF as a gunner. In a bomber rain over Stuttgart, his plane is badly damaged. He parachutes into occupied France, damaging his leg in the landing. In his effort to reach Switzerland, he takes refuge in a barn near the border. His life is about to change in ways he cannot imagine once his presence is discovered.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1452033609/?tag=2022091-20
( Without Quarter is the story of the first major U.S. ar...)
Without Quarter is the story of the first major U.S. army expedition against the Comanches between the Mexican and Civil wars. Late in 1858, under the leadership of Captain (Brevet Major) Earl Van Dorn, units of the Second Cavalry marched north form Fort Belknap, Texas, and established a temporary post, Camp Radziminski, at the southwest edge of the Wichita Mountains. Scouring the country north, east, and west in search of Comanches, the Wichita Expedition precipitated two major engagements, known as the Battle at the Wichita Village and the Battle of Crooked Creek. During the latter fight, the soldiers killed or captured all the inhabitants of a Comanche village. William Y. Chalfant gives a detailed account of the expedition, first setting the historical context, then tracing events to the climax at Crooked Creek on May 13, 1859.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0806123672/?tag=2022091-20
( Cheyennes at Dark Water Creek tells the tragic story of...)
Cheyennes at Dark Water Creek tells the tragic story of the southern bands of Cheyennes from the period following the Treaty of Medicine Lodge through the battles and skirmishes known as the Red River War. The Battle of Sappa Creek, the last encounter of that conflict, was a fight between a band of Cheyennes and a company of the Sixth Cavalry that took place in Kansas in April 1875. More Cheyennes were killed in that single engagement than in all the previous fighting of the war combined, and later there were controversial charges of massacre-and worse. William Y. Chalfant has used all known contemporaneous sources to recound the tragedy that occurred at the place known to the Cheyennes as Dark Water Creek. In Cheyenne memories, its name remains second only to Sand Creek in the terrible images and the sorrow it evokes. Chalfant tells the story in a sweeping style that recreates Cheyenne life on the southern plains. Beyond examining firsthand and secoundary accounts in detail, the author personally retraced the route of the army detachment from Fort Wallace, Kansas, to the battle site at Sappa Creek, and the route of the Cheyennes from Punished Women’s Fork to the Sappa. His recounting of the lives of the Indian and military participants, both leading up to and following the battle, is sure to appeal both to scholars of the Indian wars and to the general reader.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0806128755/?tag=2022091-20
Chalfant, William Young was born on October 3, 1928 in Hutchinson, Kansas, United States. Son of Claude Edward and Junia Maurine (Young) Chalfant.
Bachelor of Arts Kansas, 1950. Juris Doctor, University Michigan, 1956.
Partner Branine, Chalfant & Hill, Hutchinson, since 1956. Board directors First National Bank, Hutchinson. Member Kansas State Board of Law Examiners, 1966—1992, chairman, 1986—1992.
Member constitutional law drafting committee National Conference of Bar Examiners, 1974—1985.
( Cheyennes at Dark Water Creek tells the tragic story of...)
(The year is 1939 and Canada has just entered the war agai...)
( Without Quarter is the story of the first major U.S. ar...)
( The first major battle between the U.S. Army and the Ch...)
(First edition, with full number line.)
Author: Cheyennes and Horse Soldiers, 1989, Dangerous Passage, 1993, Without Quarter, 1991, Cheyennes at Dark Water Creek, 1997.
Drive chairman Reno County Community Chest, Hutchinson, 1957-1958l board directors Reno County Red Cross, Hutchinson, 1960-1964. District commissioner Boy Scouts American, 1965-1975. Captain United States Marine Corps, 1950-1953.
Member American Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association, Santa Fe Trail Association (board directors, award of merit 1995), Western History Association (chairman finance committee).
History, writing.
Married Martha Ann Wallbillich, June 30, 1956. Children: William David, Kristin.