North Dakota Books

Wonderful recollections of a bygone era. Ms. Plotkin's well documented family lore invokes the stories of countless immigrant families who settled in the Dakotas and whose lives were filled with hardhips and struggles but also with lots of love and humor. Five beautiful and amazingly strong women who remained instrinsicly feminine doing "man's work". Certainly not an idyllic life but neither a tragic one. Just one that had to be lived to the fullest. No wonder Ms. Plotkin wanted desperately to be a Pearson Girl - I do too!

Wonderful recollections of a bygone era. Ms. Plotkin's well documented family lore invokes the stories of countless immigrant families who settled in the Dakotas and whose lives were filled with hardhips and struggles but also with lots of love and humor. Five beautiful and amazingly strong women who remained instrinsicly feminine doing "man's work". Certainly not an idyllic life but neither a tragic one. Just one that had to be lived to the fullest. No wonder Ms. Plotkin wanted desperately to be a Pearson Girl - I do too!

A heartwarming and intelligent story of immigrant grit on the Dakota front at the beginning of the century. If you have time to read only one memoir this year, make it THE PEARSON GIRLS! It will fascinate you.

I loved this book. It told of a wonderful hard working family and the love that was passed down from generation to generation. You will soon find yourself loving the 'girls' and seeing the Plains through their eyes.There were many times during the course of reading this book that I wanted to live with them, oh what a beautiful, peaceful time in America's history.

This mystery keeps you guessing about what is going to happen. as all mystery readers do, I thought I had it figured out after chapter 40, but as all great mystery writers do, Mike proved me very wrong. It was hard to put down after I started reading it. Mike's knowledge of North Dokata and the booze running times is very evident throughtout the book. His discriptions makes you feel like you were ther looking out from behing the cases of whiskey.

A fast paced page turner, hard to put down. Mr Thompson, originally from North Dakota has pretty much hit the nail on the head with the history of the bootleg days of the 20's. The book makes you look at Andy Larson as a good old boy even if he is stealing from criminals.
More Andy larson books please!

In North Dakota rogue cop Andy Larson supplements his income by stealing from criminals especially bootleggers. He and four of his friends plan to hijack a truckload filled with illegal booze, but to his dismay everything turns ugly as bullets fly. The four bootleggers and one of Larson's allies are dead. When the dust settles, the four survivors look inside the truck to find a cache of gold coins.

Andy knows he needs to cover up the disaster from his work peers and elude the owner of the coins, mobster Al Capone. As he struggles with both, Andy tries to figure out how to dispose of bodies, alcohol, and coins without the cops or the Chicago mob knowing it was him.

Except for the illegal booze and names like Capone, this prohibition crime caper could take place in any twentieth century era as the action-packed story line lacks a distinct 1920s flavor to it. The story line is fast-paced and filled with gunfights that make the Valentine's Day massacre look like a cozy. With the blood flowing and the audience wanting Andy to get his comeuppance as a bad cop, readers will be reminded of marihuana busts in the south and southwest in the 1960s as Mike Thompson provides a graphic shoot out.

Harriet Klausner

My family was recently transferred to North Dakota with the Air Force. Before we moved we wanted to learn more about it, since we had never been here. It was very difficult to find ANYTHING in print about North Dakota. I finally found an older copy of this book in a book store in Anchorage, AK, and then went on-line and ordered the new edition.

While I think this book is pretty decent, I wish I could find a book with more pictures. While North Dakota is hardly considered a popular tourist destination, there IS some pretty scenery. I think this book would be better if they added some sections with pictures. Otherwise, the book is pretty good. I would recommend it to anyone considering travel in North Dakota (or South Dakota, it also has a section on that state), but then again I have not come across a single other book that focuses on North Dakota as much.

I really enjoyed reading all about the Dakotas. I plan on traveling to learn more about my roots. This book will really help me plan my travels.

I used this guidebook for a visit to the Black Hills of South Dakota. If there's a more interesting place to visit than the Black Hills I haven't found it. The scenery is great, the wildlife abundant, and the history is fascinating. For example, the guidebook led me to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the Red Cloud Heritage Center and Red Cloud's grave. (Red Cloud was a Dakota chief who defeated the U.S. army in 1868 and forced a withdrawal from Indian lands.) On a different level, the book also led me to Kevin Costner's casino and restaurant in Deadwood, as well as Will Bill Hickok's grave in the same town.

The guidebook divides the Dakotas into six regions and lists interesting places to stay, old-time restaurants, museums and art galleries, annual events, and assorted trivia. Sidebars recount tidbits of Dakota history, especially tales of its cowboys and Indians. This guidebook is light and small and well-organized and all you need to find your way to interesting spots, especially if you're the sort of person who's allergic to shopping malls and cooker-cutter hotels and restaurants

Smallchief

Iktomi is a trickster in Plains Indian folklore. In this tale his conceit gets him into trouble.

Paul Goble is a Caldecott Medal winning illustrator who has a gift for bringing native folktales to life for elementary age children. He has a unique pen, ink and paint technique that brings out the details in Iktomi's dress and gear, as well as animals--such as the prairie dogs and ducks in this tale.

While the main text of the story is told in bold black type, the storyteller is given some hilarious commentary in gray type, which is a delight for children listening to the story. Goble also adds little captions that are fun to read aloud, or that children enjoy looking for on their own.

I prefer folktales that teach a moral, and here the message is clear: pride goes before a fall.

Paul Goble does a great job in bringing Plains Indian lore to a modern audience. His humor and capitivating illustrations make this book a good "read out lound" for preschoolers and early elementary alike. The trickster Iktomi gives us a chance to laugh at our own foibles, while we learn a valuable lesson. Iktomi, it seems, will never learn!

I am certainly coming to enjoy the stories of the trickster, the main character in many Native American myths and legends. In the Pacific Northwest he is known as Raven, while the Lakota call him Iktomi, which means "spider." The man Iktomi, who is the central character in a series of adventures retold and illustrated by Paul Goble, is both very clever and very stupid, which results in some rather amusing tales. One of the things that makes the trickster such a compelling figure is that sometimes Iktomi uses his cleverness to benefit man, while other times he merely makes mischief. "Iktomi and the Berries: A Plains Indian Story" is such a tale and remind many readers of one of Aesop's fables that has similar story elements, "The Dog and the Bone." However, in these stories the moral is never stated explicitly because children come to understand what is unacceptable from the terrible behavior exhibited by Iktomi.

In this particular story Iktomi is out hunting one day, looking so ridiculous waring his coyote skin as a disguise that the prairie dogs are all laughing at him. When he falls into the river he spots some beautiful red buffalo berries in the water and decides that is exactly what he needs to make some berry soup for his relatives. However, getting those berries proves to be rather difficult for Iktomi and all of the fine clothing and things he bragged about a the start of the story are soon traveling merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, right on down the stream.

Throughout the text there are points where the print changes to italics. In "A Note for the Reader" at the start of the book, Goble explains that the italics represent points in telling the story of "Iktomi and the Berries" where the reader can give their listeners a chance to comment on what Iktomi is saying and doing. In the Native American tradition stories like this are always told with the storyteller and the listeners interjecting comments about the stupidity of what Iktomi says and does. Similarly, what Iktomi is thinking is printed in small type (e.g., "I'm a great hunter. Watch me").

Goble's illustrations are done in India ink and watercolor reproduced in combined line and halftone. His attention to the authentic detail of Iktomi's clothing and his stylized representation of the animals in this second Iktomi book are what we have come to expect from all of the books Goble has put out bringing these Native American myths and legends to new generations of young and old readers alike. After "Iktomi and the Boulder" this is the second of the trickster's many adventures recounted by Goble (or, as Iktomi calls him, "that white guy" who "is telling stories about me again").

Growing up 50 minutes east of Fargo with plenty of family in North Dakota, the characters and places all feel very real to me. To be truthful, I've hung out at "The Office", shopped at Hornbacher's and understand that West Fargo is different from Fargo. When Brenda writes about the North Dakota sky, I don't have to imagine, I just remember. Her prose is poetic, her characterizations full, and her story wonderfully told.

Thank you, Brenda!

Mavis is the first book I read by Brenda K.Marshall and I personally think that she is a very good writer. What I liked about this book is that she didn't give the story away, which I thought was very impressive, because usually in books like these, the author may give the story away a little too soon. What I didn't like about this novel is that I never found out about who got accused for the murder. I would reccommend this book for grades seven and up.

I found this book to be interesting enough that I hated for it to end. As the author took me through the rural area of the Dakotas, I could reach back in my early childhood days and visualize the community, the people, the weather and the relics of generations of hand me downs even though I come from another part of the country. I like dialogue but the descriptive scenes were not boring but entertaining and put me right there. I appreciated the togetherness of the sisters in spite of their differences and infighting and I liked the closeness of those on the fringe of the immediate family. We knew most of what was going to happen as we went along but how it unfolded and how they were going to deal with it, including the authorities, kept me reading. I would like to read more of this author.

I just finished reading a borrowed copy of Fanny Kelly's book and was fascinated by her account of her experiences. Her treatment by her Indian captors may give one a "politically incorrect" view of our native Americans, but her account is documented and proven true. It is well written, inspiring, and educational -- a book I must have as a permanent part of my library.

A riveting memoir by Fanny Kelly about her capture by the Sioux (Dakota) in 1864. Kelly's small wagon train was attacked in Wyoming en route to Idaho from southeastern Kansas. She spent five months as a captive, her life under constant threat as she and the Sioux walked and rode, often fleeing the army, through Montana and into the Badlands of North Dakota where they starved and froze, their provisions having been destroyed by the army.

Kelly's individual story straddles the convergence of two civilizations in implacable opposition with terrible things being done by both sides. The events in Kelly's story take place only two years after the Minnesota Massacre of 1862 and the brutal white response.

If you have read and enjoyed the grittiness of Elinore Pruitt Stewart's Letters of a Woman Homesteader you may enjoy this. Both books give a glimpse of the way Americans once lived and thought (nary a convenience store or microwave in sight). This book, however, as gripping as I found it, was also horrifying and sad. We experience individual acts of cruelty within a larger context of cultural incomprehension and intolerance. Tit for tat acts of revenge by hurt and angry people. Relevant for today? I think so.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, captivity narratives were rather popular among those who lived to tell about their abduction by Indians, and Fanny Kelly's account is a good specimen of this type of writing. I was impressed by the rather harsh lifestyle that the plains Indians endured in their nomadic wanderings. This book neither praises nor belittles the Sioux, but paints a fair portrait of life among them. It's not an outstanding book, but it is good, instructive, and worth getting in the paperback edition.

Mike has been a friend of mine for years. He and I were ordained in the same class in our Annual Conference. However, I believe knowing him has helped me assess this work. The devotions are very thoughtful and the reflection of a well-trained pastoral mind. The stories show the a very compassionate human being who can see the hand of God in the work of people. Thanks Mike.

From Michael Coyner's personal Litany for facing change, with words that provide strengthening for many in the church family and those serving on the Bishop's Cabinet:
"We pray for security, but God terrifies us with freedom."
The immense size of Coyner's new area of North & South Dakota is daunting; the diversity of the people amazes, as does the facility of Dakotans to act as though Native Americans exist only in old 'Western' films. Native Americans have maybe 14 words for "snow", and Bishop Coyner thought during his first winter that even more descriptive words were needed! Blizzards were followed by snowmelt and floods - - leaving FIFTY THOUSAND homeless. It isn't difficult to imagine that people in the Dakotas are always fearing the 'next' winter.

Did you know that the sunflower head standing tall can be harvested as long as the valuable head is still above the snow? I wonder how many Dakota parents embroider this truth somewhat to teach their children about survival, and to be stalwart? (Matthew 6: "Tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today" . . . compare with John Bunyan's words "He who would Valiant be . . . " set to the music of Vaughan Williams & sung in St. Paul's Cathedral London. (# B00002EIUG)

Following a 'learning experience' with vandalism, the Bishop prayed: "Protect us from vandals who seek to deface; but PROTECT US EVEN MORE FROM IRRELEVANCE & inability to proclaim your good grace." In times of trouble, God will launch us to use our energy & imagination to "overcome" - - with the best examples coming from black sisters & brothers. In the most poignant chapter of all, "Sap on the Family Tree," Bishop Coyner states that "Racism has led us to disregard our common humanity." His ancestor owned a slave named "Sall" valued at $200. and he now has that to ponder. For each of us to ponder are other chapters: "Pavement Ends," "Sandbags," "Connected by the Inner Net," "Remote Starting the Church," "Celebrating Small Successes," "The Prisoner's Note."

How empty the lives of those who do not make 'eye contact'. That sad fact goes back to experiences early in life when gentle, sometimes challenging words spoke by my father when offering the elements of communion, always with loving eyes, speaking always with kindness. This bishop has demonstrated such kindness. When receiving communion from him early in the year (2006) I 'flubbed'! He continued to encourage me by gesture & kind eyes, and that was true kindness to someone feeling the earthquake of leukemia.

Reviewer mcHAIKU will close with a part of the bishop's prayer, (p.132): "Thanks for those who pray for ME each day, who pray I will follow your way HOPEFULLY." "Guide us, direct us and show us your ... way," but please . . . DON'T avoid detours!

Though probably best read in small doses for proper assimilation and reflection, I found myself compelled to keep reading page after page of this wonderful collection of meditations. But donÕt let the term meditations throw you. There is nothing dry or boring about them. Bishop Coyner has a wonderful way of using the everyday events of our lives and how we react to them as reflections upon our relationships not only with each other, but with our Creator as well. I never felt that I was being preached to, but needed to be reminded of the need to "shave my head" when called to do so, learned a wonderful new word (Uffda!), and discovered that El Nino is not a bad thing for everyone. There is so much more to share, but some journeys we each have to make ourselves. This is definitely a trip worth taking.

This book is wonderful. The artwork is colorful and the language is dynamic. It is a must have book.

The Range Eternal is Louise Erdrich's second children's book (the first being Grandmother's Pigeon). The story Erdrich tells is one of family and tradition (and an old stove). The story is told simply and well, and it is peppered with Native American legend and tradition. For this reason, I wonder if the book would not be better suited to Native children more than non-Native children. I have read Erdrich's novels, so I have a passing familiarity with terms like "Windigo", but I'm not sure most non-Native children would and this might confuse them.

While I am a fan of Erdrich's other work (including the young adult novel: The Birchbark House), this isn't a book that I would be excited to read to my children (when I have some). It isn't quite as accessible or has a simplistic enough feel to it. Maybe I'm not giving children enough credit, but I would recommend something like Alison McGhee's "Countdown to Kindergarten" over this one. Instead of this, you might want to give Erdrich's first children's book, "Grandmother's Pigeon", a try. It's much better.

The illustrations in this book are gorgeous! The pictures flow and fill out the story. Children will be drawn into every page. The book is a wonderful tale of family life, responsibilities and the value of tradition. I put it on my list to buy for my niece and nephew.

The Secret of Dead Man's Mine is a truly fascinating mystery. It makes sleuthing look so fun and pleasurable. It's a good work out for the mind. It is great for a school report, because it will really get the class on the edge of their seats. Kids from ages 10-15 will enjoy this book.

Do you remember the thrill of reading Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries growing up? The straight-forward stories kept you guessing until the last page, and they were filled with characters you liked and could identify with. If so, it's time to rejoice! "The Secret of Dead Man's Mine" brought back wonderful memories of those old-fashioned (in a very good way) mysteries, while updating the concept by making the lead character a Lakota Sioux Indian girl -- just imagine a Native American Nancy Drew. And at a time when many so-called "children's books" are nothing more than toy commercials, "The Secret of Dead Man's Mine" is a breath of fresh air.

Author Rodney Johnson takes us into a fascinating world with a plot that is simple but extremely effective -- by being naturally inquisitive, Rinnah Two Feathers finds herself in the middle of a mystery that leads to a search for the legendary Dead Man's Mine. Fortunately for us, the clever writing, the glimpse that the book provides into the Indian world and the fun illustrations (by Jill Thompson of Scary Godmother fame!) take this book to the next level.

Rinnah is the type of girl you want to know, and her best friends, Tommy and Meagen, are wonderful, fully drawn characters, similar to the kids in the Harry Potter series. In fact, all of the characters are not only interesting but also integral to the story, such as the bullies at school, the Indian family members and the numerous adults staying at the lodge run by Rinnah's mom.

I won't give away the ending, but I will say that it was both surprising and satisfying. I can't wait for the next Rinnah Two Feathers book!

Rinnah Two Feathers has always longed for adventure. But nothing ever happens in her small community on the edge of the Sioux reservation. One day, on the way to school, she sees a suspicious stranger examining the Jackson house. And the school bully won't leave her, her best friend Tommy, and their new friend Meagan alone. Then the museum in Tommy's house is robbed and mysterious guests arrive at Rinnah's family's guest house. Soon, Rinnah has more excitement then she knows what to do with. Can she figure out what is really going on?

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast moving young adult mystery. All the characters are well developed. The plot is complicated enough to keep me guessing with a couple of nice twists, but comes to a logical conclusion.

This book is a definite step ahead of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books and I'm looking forward to Rinnah's further adventures.

Historians discovered many years ago that oral history is a vibrant cornucopia of information. Even better, integrating oral history into traditional modes of inquiry opened up more chances for earning a Ph.D., or getting that career making book contract. In the case of "Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of 1862," oral history is the only game in town. Every selection in the book is an oral story from Indians or mixed-blood Indians about the disastrous uprising that killed hundreds of soldiers, settlers, and Indians. One of the editors of "Through Dakota Eyes" is none other than Gary Clayton Anderson, the premier scholar on Dakota history. As usual, Anderson goes above and beyond the call of duty in researching the narratives, providing background color on the people involved (and also providing information about what happened to these people after the uprising, something I greatly appreciated).

For nearly a century after the uprising, articles and books concerning the 1862 war only used white narratives as sources of information. There is definitely nothing wrong with relying on these narratives; they are invaluable sources of information on the uprising. The white narratives also reveal the tragic dimensions of the conflict, showing how innocent men, women, and children died (or persevered) in especially brutal ways. With the addition of these Indian narratives, however, historians can now go inside the camps and meeting places of the Dakotas intimately involved in the conflict.

The narratives are lumped into distinct categories dealing with different stages of the uprising. Each category then provides a succinct description of that particular phase of the war. With each narrative, the editors provide a small capsule of information on the person telling the story, allowing the reader to understand that person's place in the overall scheme of things. It is recommended to read the endnotes for each narrative, as they provide excellent information on each narrative. Excellent maps and pictures of many of the people involved also help the reader to understand the accounts.

Some of the narratives are more helpful than others. A few are difficult to understand due to poor grammar or contradictory information. Several of the narratives appeared in newspaper articles or as testimony in a case against the government in 1901, and there is a possibility that someone altered or changed them as they saw fit. That does not mean there are not any "WOW!" moments found here. In Cecelia Campbell Stay's account of the attack on the Redwood Agency (also known as the Lower Agency, where the killing began in earnest on August 18th), Cecelia describes seeing the sunlight flashing on the bayonets of Captain Marsh's patrol as they headed to their doom at the ferry crossing. Another narrative, now widely used in accounts of the uprising, comes from Wowinape, the son of Little Crow (the leader of the warring Dakota). Battle narratives allow the reader to feel as though they are at Fort Ridgely, New Ulm, or Birch Coulee as the cannons roar and the bullets fly.

As the editors point out, many of the mixed-blood Indian narratives identify a central tension of the conflict, namely the division between Indians who adopted white modes of civilization (the farmer Indians) and those who stayed true to traditional Indian values (the blanket Indians). Many of the mixed-blood Indians worked closely with whites; they feared the war parties of the traditionals just as much as whites did. As the war began to wind down, it was the mixed-bloods along with some full-blooded Indians who confronted the warring Indians, forcing these hostile forces to turn over their white captives in an effort to make peace with the military forces sweeping into the area.

This is an absolutely essential book for anyone interested in the Minnesota 1862 uprising. Actually, anyone writing a paper on this conflict without using this book as a source could find themselves in hot water. Since the editors graciously organized the narratives in chronological order, there is no reason someone unfamiliar with the conflict and its principal figures would have any difficulty understanding the book. Gary Anderson and Alan Woolworth have made an important contribution to Indian scholarship with this impressive tome.

A number of years ago, I was privileged to take an Internet class on the Dakota War of 1862 that was being taught by none other than Mr. Gary CLayton Anderson. After the course was over he took us to all the battle sites, trading posts, and places where treaties were signed. The good professor had a very great knack for evoking the visuals. That is a tendency that has carried over into his books. To write this book he has spent literally hundreds of hours combing through manuscripts, museum archives, and musty old books and newspapers in order to find first hand accounts of Minnesota's only Indian War. The results are absolutely stunning. The Dakota warriors and tribal chiefs who waged war on the whites come across not as peaceful children of nature or even as blood thirsty savages, but as men of flesh and blood. Although there are heroes and villains in this book, there are times when it is very difficult to tell them appart. At the same time as Chief Little Crow countenanced bloody massacres of women and children he secretly ordered his foster brother to save as many of them as he could. In addition, there were very few "hostile" Indians who didn't have some white people or Americanised Indians they desired to protect. Most of the people in this book seemed only interested in protecting their families and friends. One of the most sympathetic figures proves to be a Dakota "half breed" known as Joseph Coursolle or Hinhankaga, depending on which language you spoke. To Coursolle, after his daughters were taken prisoner by "hostiles," getting them back became his obsession, one understandable to any parent. The most fascinating thing about this book was that there were Indians who favored the whites and whites who favored the Indians. Coursolle, whose mother was Dakota, would go on to become a Corporal in the US Army, serving as a scout and a sniper against the men who had stolen his family. And among the "hostiles" hanged at Mankato was a white man who had been adopted into the Dakota Nation. In closing, this book reveals what happened in all it's complexities and brutal truth. History, no matter how hard one may try to change it to fit one's own politics, is so complex that even the characters you come to know intimately can still surprise you. No matter how hard some people may try, it cannot be pushed into a box. I am very much surpised that noone has tried optioning this book for TV or a movie. It would make a very powerful tale.

This book has some wonderful narratives from the very people who were caught up in the middle of the uprising in Minnesota in 1862. The author does a good job of explaining how the book is laid out. You definitely need to read the intro to understand this. While I was reading the book, I felt as though I was there in the middle of it with all those involved. I don't excuse what was done, but I have a better understanding of what horrors the indians went through that drove them to this place. I would definitely recommend this book.