He describes his spiritual practices and the powers he claimed to possess without apology.

He describes the process of the various surrenders and the negotiations around them.

He also describes the experience of captivity with clarity.

He was an old man by 1905, with years of experience trying to persuade the American public and government of the injustice of continued captivity.

The autobiography was partly an appeal for sympathy and partly an act of historical documentation.

He remained, to the end of his life, someone who had not accepted the permanent justice of what had been done to him and his people.