A Cycle of the West
based on real men and events, followed a progression from the departure of the first hundred Ashley-Henry Fur Trading Men up the Missouri River in 1822, through the exploration of the country beyond Salt Lake, over the South Pass to the Pacific, and through the Indian Wars fought to advance the white man's control of the West. The Cycle ends with the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890, which marked the end of organized Indian resistance.

The Song of Three Friends
The opening Song is about the murder of Bill Carpenter by Mike Fink over an Indian girl
after their mutual friend named Tableau had failed to discourage their long running rivalry.

The Song of Hugh Glass
The second in the cycle, recounts Glass's heroic hundred-mile crawl across desert country after
being malled by a Grizzly Bear and left for dead by two companions who had been assigned to await his death and bury him.

The Song of Jed Smith
Follows the exploits of Smith through the reminiscences of three former friends as they sit around a fire some years after Jed's death. The story follows Smith's path across unknown country, the discovery of Salt Lake, Indian attacks and crossing the South Pass of the Rockies.

The Song of the Indian Wars
Paints detailed pictures of the major battles, Indians in council planning, white men and Indians suffering or exulting over the turn of events, the color, sound, and fury of war. One is led to empathize with men on both sides, fighting heroically for the same ends–glory, security, and one's own space.

The Song of the Messiah
Concerns the Messiah movement of the 1880s, when the Piute Wovoka was believed by the Indians to be Christ, rejected by white men and returning to restore the Indians to their former state. The indians need for hope, allowed the vision to lead them into war, and they met their final tragedy at Wounded Knee. Neihardt described this epic as picturing the whole human race on the cross; its theme is the Christian ethic at the highest value level of universal love and understanding.