The Indians Won

by Martin Cruz Smith

Book by Martin Cruz Smith

Genres: Historical Fiction, Alternate History, Fiction, Science Fiction, Novels, Fantasy

221 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Martin Cruz Smith (AKA Simon Quinn, Nick Carter, Jake Logan, and Martin Quinn) was an American writer of mystery and suspense fiction, mostly in an international or historical setting. He was best known for his 11-book series featuring Russian investigator Arkady Renko, who was introduced in 1981 with Gorky Park and appeared in Independence Square (2023) and Hotel Ukraine (2025). [Wikipedia]

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this offbeat story of what might have happened if Crazy Horse had not been murdered.
The alternate history story is divided in two periods, the historical part and a modern-day part in the new America. The action is alternated.
Crazy Horse went on to be a great general and managed to unite the Native American tribes against the invaders. Down in the southwest the Indians linked up with the Mormons in Utah and so a block of land was left in the centre of the continent with the new settlers remaining on the coasts. How this is politically organised makes an interesting read and by the action story of the modern day we see the world that has resulted from this circumstance.
The modern section is the poorer but the characters are still all well written.
Cruz Smith is part Pueblo and makes the ideal author for such a story. Also read Stallion Gate.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another alternate history that says more about when it was written than the counterfactual point explored. Cruz postulates an alliance of almost all of the remaining tribes in the years after the American Civil War that, with European supplied weaponry, is able to defeat the US Army and carve out an independent nation.

And, of course, the Native Americans go from strength to strength, holding off the US and building a technologically advanced nation that remains completely true to their traditions. The book splits the story between telling the history of how they built their nation with a "modern" (i.e. 1970s set) situation between the US and the Native American Nation which could lead to the final war between the two.

An interesting read but unconvincing, again as is often the case in AH, the author has his chosen side win because everything falls their way. Admittedly, Smith does not make it 100% but pretty close. Further, I think Smith underestimates the vindictiveness of the American national character in believing that the US would let its losses go un-avenged. The ability of the Native Americans to become an industrial power capable of equaling (and often exceeding according to the book) the US military while remaining entirely true to their ways and traditions strikes an unlikely note, as there were less than half a million Native Americans in 1880, but necessary for Smith's story.

[Ingrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein sehr zahlenlastiger Bericht über einen Krieg und die Geschichte eines Staates, die so nie stattfanden.

[Muzzlehatch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I have to be the nay-sayer on this book. A bit surprised at just how positive the average rating and review seems to be. Well, first off I will say one very positive thing - this book got me back into reading fiction after a very long fallow period in which the only novels or stories I read were re-readings of old favorites; I think when I read this 3 1/2 years ago it was the first time I actually finished a novel for the first time in at least a decade. Had it been a great book, maybe it would have lead me to even more reading than I've done since, but that's a pointless mental exercise to imagine. I read it in the space of 2 days, standing waiting in line for movies, and while I probably liked the movies I saw more than this book, it's a strong memory, and in a sense it was an enjoyable enough page-turner under the circumstances.

Unfortunately it wasn't that good, but fortunately it was very short. It's Martin Cruz Smith's first novel, and it wasn't terribly successful at the time - it seems to be out of print now, and there are very few copies in my whole state library system. This novel - which Cruz himself admits was quickly written (I'd call it "slapdash") and very imperfect in his intro to the paperback edition - is about just what you'd expect it to be about: it's an alternate history story in which the Native Americans somehow beat back the advance of the American army after Custer's defeat in 1876, and eventually establish an Indian Nation which bisects the USA. Alas it's not very well realized at all and way, way too short for such a big subject. The 1876-78 main plot, in which a charismatic (and I'm guess made-up, I haven't bothered to look this stuff up) and highly educated Indian leader brings the western tribes together to fight off the US troops isn't terrible though Smith's descriptions and characterizations are thin even by the standards of pulp fiction, but the modern-day sequences where an Indian Nations representative is in talks in Washington to try to fend off potential nuclear war are really shoddy, and the fact that Smith somehow imagines WWI and II happening more or less the same way they did in our reality, barely mentions women or other races at all, and doesn't give more than the faintest notion of what relations between the two nations have been, let alone relations with Mexico, Canada or the rest of the Americas, really makes the book feel like it was thought up in an afternoon. Still, this is an area in the alternate history subgenre that is surprisingly thin so if the idea interests you it might be worth a casual look. It's also refueled my interest in this area so I may take a look at some of Harry Turtledoves massive AH oeuvre before long. (three years later - I haven't - but I still consider them every time I walk down the sci-fi shelf area in the library).

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

The alternate history was very interesting. I actually wish it had happened this way. I found the writing style to be boring though. Too little character development. I wanted more personal stories intertwined within the narrative. Still not disappointed that I read it though.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

An alternate history in which the Indians win the Indian wars. It extends into the modern world of the early 1980s, when it was written (1981). This was Martin Cruz Smith's first novel. There are some wonderful things in it. The sections that describe the alternate history of the Indian tribes forming an alliance and turning back the invasion of the west is just excellent and really engrossing. It seems to be well thought out as to how it could have happened and is leavened with great authentic details. That section would certainly earn 5 stars.

However, the latter part of the book, which depicts the relationship between the Indian nation and the United States through the experiences of the twentieth century is both more rushed and reads more like a history textbook than a novel. In addition, when the book moves back and forth through time, it fails to give any clear indication of scene switching so that this reader at least sometimes felt yanked around without being properly grounded in the timeframe. I'd give these elements 3 stars, since they are still entertaining. But this gives me the overall rating of 4.

[Garick Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m trying to confine myself to writing reviews for obscure novels which haven’t already been reviewed to death...so it was my pleasure to find that this one had only a handful so far. It’s an early work by Smith, who turned out to be a fine novelist (see Nightwing, Gorky Park, Stallion Gate, and Rose, among others). Succintly, it tells the story of what might have happened if ALL the tribes within North America had united after the Civil War and formed their own landlocked nation within the USA, in fact dividing it in two, so that America became far more of a seafaring nation, confined to the two coasts. This Indian state is by necessity a militaristic one, and they eventually develop their own nuclear weapons and become involved in deadly political intrigues. All is satisfactorily resolved at the end, when the leaders of the two nations finally meet in person to hash out a peace agreement. Recommended.

[Ron Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of this author but had never heard of this book, which was one of his earliest, until I stumbled upon it quite by accident. I was also completely unaware of the author's Native American heritage until reading the forward of The Indians Won. While it is an interesting alternative history of the Indian nations and their relationship with the Wasichu (Whites), going back and forth from the time of Custer's demise to present day, the characters were not well developed and the oft repeated lists of 10 to 20 tribal names were difficult for me to wade through. I loved the idea that the Indians had their own nuclear bomb (or did they?).

I was introduced to this author with Nightwings, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and then I have read all of his Arkady Renko books and can hardly wait for Hotel Ukraine to be released in July. I would, however, like to see Mr. Smith write more stand alone books like Rose. He is still one of my top three favorite authors.

[Djj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tells an alternate history in which an Indian Nation is established on the great plains, and alternates between an historical account of how that happened and a modern negotiation between the US and that Nation....

The book is fascinating but, as the author himself says in a new forward, knocked off very quickly, and it shows. The modern stuff is more interesting, as the historical stuff is bogged down by speculative detail.

Nonetheless I wish history had unfolded more like this.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It was written in a realistic way and gives a potential answer to what would happen if the Native Americans had the same weaponry as the United States army. In some ways, I wish that it had happened but I probably would not have grown up in the Southwest.
I did have some difficulty with the abrupt changes in time.

[Seajay]

Did not finish.

It was hard to follow and moved too slow.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s really no plot and the present-tense storyline feels unnecessary (especially because of how the one prominent female character is handled). The historical/alternate history sections are fun

[Rick Kessell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Great alternative history book. Never knew Martin Cruz Smith was Native American. Have enjoyed his writing with Arkady Renko. I couldn't put this book down. Great, and exciting read. I very much recommend giving this a try.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a strange one. “The Indians Won” was the first published novel by the late Martin Cruz Smith, author of the best-selling Arkady Renko books. It came out in 1970 and explored an alternative history where the many Native American tribes banded together in the 1800s to defeat the US Army and then set up their own country in the Great Plains. I remember us having a copy as a kid, but never read it and it’s been out of print for decades. Smith was part Native American himself and the University of New Mexico press recently reprinted “The Indians Won” and I picked up a copy in Albuquerque. It’s written pretty choppy — scenes and characters change from one paragraph to the next with no break. But it was still an interesting thought exercise into “what if…”

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was first published in 1970 by Martin Cruz Smith who became well known for his Akardy Renko series including Gorky Park which was adapted to film. This book is being republished by The University of New Mexico Press as part of their new Native Edge series edited by Native American mystery writer David Heska Wanbli Weiden (see Winter Counts, one of my favorite mysteries). Martin Cruz Smith is a New Mexican Pueblo Indian and his alternative history tale was groundbreaking when it was originally published and continues to be so, it was just way ahead of its time. The novel has two timelines and the first scenario describes a battle where Natives defeat the colonizers and retain their freedom and land. The second timeline takes place in the 1970s where the Indian Nation is now a nuclear power and engaged in a cold war with the United States which exist only on the East and West Coast. It is an imaginative tale, and considering that Cruz Smith was very young when he wrote this opus it is quite an accomplishment. Thank you to New Mexico Press for graciously providing me an Advanced Review Copy.

[Marty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book by Cruz that I read.....what a gem. Yes, the Indians win a war against current day US Govt. So well done. A hidden gem of a story.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great "What if?" read. As a person with Native American roots, I found this really amazing.