Gail Geo. Holmes was born in 1923. A North Dakota farm boy, he was uprooted by World War II. After the war ended, he moved in 1946 to Geneva, Switzerland, and published the weekly English-language newspaper Swiss Reporter. In 1950, he was asked to serve as press officer for the World Plenary of YMCAs at Nyborg Strand, Denmark. Holmes also served as copy editor of the Minot, North Dakota Daily News. Later, he served as high courts reporter and then assistant provincial editor of the Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada Leader Post. With his wife and Swiss-born daughter, Rondee, in tow, Holmes took a job as copy editor at the Omaha, Nebraska World Herald. He was called in 1971 to be president of a Native American branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Gail fell in love with Native American and pioneer history in the Middle Missouri Valley. The Chiefs of Council Bluffs: Five Leaders of the Missouri Valley Tribes is a product of that love.