John Buffalo is pushed to train for track and field events, with an eye toward the Olympics. His training introduces him to Jim Thorpe, 1912 winner of two gold medals in track and field who was later stripped of them. He meets Bill Picket, the black cowboy who invented steer wrestling and one of the creators of the world's largest Wild West show. Together, these athletes and showmen travel to Mexico, South America, and Europe.

Along the way to an Olympic gold medal, John Buffalo meets and interacts with a variety of early twentieth-century celebrities including Theodore Roosevelt, Tim McCoy, and even Jesse Owens, the African American gold medal winner snubbed by Hitler.

The Long Journey Home is beautifully woven historical fiction about a star athlete Native American. Sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes hilarious, veteran Don Coldsmith delivers another breathtaking story.