Beardance by Will Hobbs

In the sequel to Bearstone, Cloyd and Walter return to the San Juan Mountains in search of a fabled Spanish gold mine. Cloyd sees a mother grizzly—possibly the mate to the grizzly killed by Rusty—raising two cubs. When she dies, Cloyd tries to protect the young bears until they can hibernate.

Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake

The book version of the author’s Oscar-winning screenplay tells the story of white Civil War Army officer John Dunbar, whose visit to a community of Native Americans on the Great Plains changes his life. He realizes that their world is threatened by white invaders and joins them as a fellow warrior. Published around the same time as Beardance, the story likewise includes an encounter with a wilderness predator—a wolf who, like Cloyd’s grizzly, is targeted by visiting hunters.

• Dances with Wolves on SuperSummary

“Bearstone and Beardance” by Will Hobbs

In this article, the author describes how Cloyd and Walter’s stories came about. The two characters are based on real people: The author’s wife, a teacher, worked with an inspiring Ute student in Durango who struggled with homesickness; Hobbs labored one summer on a ranch whose elderly owner dreamed of restarting his gold mine up in the mountains.