About the author
William Elwood Sanderson (b.1903) was a writer of children’s books. He wrote two books about the Nez Percé tribe. Horses are for Warriors (1954) is the story of how the tribe acquired their Appaloosa horses. Its Kirkus reviewer was unimpressed, describing it as “sluggish but not without its value as solid historical background.” It’s not the only book on the subject: Glenn Balch’s Indian Saddle Up met with more favour from Kirkus, who thought it a livelier portrayal of the same event.
Finding the books
Findable: Buffalo Horse is more common than Horses for Warriors, but all editions of both are easy to track down.
Links and sources
Kirkus Reviews
Terri Wear: Horse Stories: An Annotated Bibliography
Bibliography
Horses are for Warriors
Caxton Printers, Idaho, 1954, 183 pp, illus Pers Crowell
Corgi (Transworld), London, 1956, 188 pp, pb
The Nez Percé village is attacked by the Soshone tribe, after which Lone Wolf sets off to track down some spotted dogs for his tribe. While he’s looking, he finds a herd of spotted horses – Appaloosas, and is determined to tame and ride one.
Nez Percé Buffalo Horse
Caxton Printers, Idaho, 1972, 169 pp, illus Pers Crowell
Young Wolf was part of the Nim-i-pu (as the Nez Percé called themselves); the first to use the horse. Young Wolf’s father is ambushed by a group of Blackfoot, but Little Elk is captured, along with two of the horses, and enslaved.
