# V: Rubbed Out explained — A Cycle of the West > Chapter companion for A Cycle of the West by John G. Neihardt. ## What happens This chapter describes the ambush and annihilation of a U.S. cavalry and infantry force along the Bozeman Road near Lodge Trail Ridge and Peno Creek. A large coalition of Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and Dakotas, driven by a unified hatred, lay in wait and executed a coordinated attack. After a feigned retreat lured the soldiers into the open, the warriors swarmed from the breaks, overwhelming the troops in a desperate battle. The soldiers, numbering eighty-one, were surrounded and killed to the last man, their bodies left on the barren hill as winter descended. ## Themes in this chapter ### Conflict and Cultural Collision The chapter vividly portrays the violent clash between U.S. military forces and a coalition of Plains tribes, emphasizing the deep-seated hatred and cultural incompatibility that fueled the battle. ### Fate and Inevitability The soldiers' doom is foreshadowed throughout the chapter, from the silent, waiting landscape to the relentless wave of warriors, culminating in their complete annihilation as an inescapable outcome. ### Loss and Nostalgia The aftermath of the battle evokes a profound sense of loss, with the winter storm mourning the slain and the barren hill serving as a stark memorial to the fallen. ## Character check-ins ### Roman Nose Referred to as 'the Cheyenne Big Nose,' he performed a daring charge on a crow-black stallion, holding the rear against the cavalry and escaping unharmed due to his powerful medicine. ### Little Raven Mentioned as 'Little Horse, the Cheyenne chieftain,' who signaled the attack by waving a spear left-handed, triggering the full assault from the hidden warriors. ## Key lines > The white of dawn had seen the Peno’s mouth A-swarm with men⁠—Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Dakotas. At daybreak, the mouth of Peno Creek was crowded with Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Dakota warriors. _Describes the gathering of the tribal coalition at the start of the battle._ > And so they perished on that barren hill Beside the Peno. And the Winter strode Numb-footed down that bloody stretch of road At twilight, when a squadron came to read The corpse-writ rune of battle, deed by deed, Between the Ridge’s summit and the ford. Thus the soldiers died on the desolate hill by Peno Creek. As winter advanced, a relief squadron arrived at dusk to interpret the story of the battle written in the corpses scattered from the ridge to the ford. _Summarizes the complete destruction of the U.S. force and the grim discovery of the aftermath._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/v-rubbed-out - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters