The year is 1825, the year that the government of President James Munroe signed the Treaty with the Mandan Indians. The Indians are still trying to understand what kind of people these are who place such importance in documents that are just words on paper But the effort to come to some kind of agreement with these usually nomadic peoples weighs heavily on Washington politicians. Young Sam Ogden has just completed his first Mountain Man Rendezvous, where he has become a celebrity for this skills with hatchet, knife and rifle. He and his mentor, Clyde Patterson, have committed to spending the winter at the Slanting Village of the Mandan Indians on the Missouri River. The Rocky Mountain frontier continues to be a volatile place with war parties and raiding parties, keeping the lives of Native Americans on edge. The Mountain Men have become fair game for the marauding bands of Crow and Blackfeet. In this fourth volume of the Sam Ogden Mountain Man Series, "The Deerslayer's Destiny," it is time for young Sam to take his place in the history of the Rocky Mountain Wilderness.