After three months at the fort in Jefferson, the company heads west again. They are told they will receive wool uniforms to protect against the cold, but never do. They head along a northern route to Fort Laramie because would-be gold hunters clog the more direct route, leaving no grass for the horses. The company is being assigned to Fort Laramie due to a “great gathering” of Native Americans, where “the major and the colonel is going to ask them to stop killing the goddamn emigrants” (60). Many tribes attend, including the Shoshone, the Sioux (including the Oglala tribe that fed the company), the Arapaho, and the Assiniboine from Canada. The army sits on one side of the river, the tribes on the other, while their respective leaders meet in the middle under a tent. An agreement is made to trade goods for safe passage for the emigres, and everyone is pleased to think a more peaceful era might be dawning.

With this newfound peace, Thomas and John stroll through the Native American camp; John in particular looks on with interest, though takes care to ensure that he does not stare and cause offense. Thomas is interested by nonbinary Native persons.