Counting Coup: The Odyssey of Captain Tom Adams

The story of  the way west in the early nineteenth century was often a tale of danger, death and unspeakable suffering. The early trappers and mountain men forged the trails westward for the pioneers that followed and became  part of the legend of the American West. Of this hardy breed of early venturers one name stands out above the rest: Kit Carson. Many stories of his bravery, often wildly exaggerated filled eastern bookshelves of the day.

How much of what was written was true and how much was fantasy? Cavalry officer Captain Tom Adams vowed to seek the truth behind the legend and along the way faced near shipwrecks, attempted assassinations, Indian massacres, murder, and torture in an odyssey that he never believed could have been possible.