South Dakota Books

After watching the Deadwood Searies on HBO, I wanted some history on the Deadwood area and what it was really all about. This book gave me what I was looking for.

Father Joseph Zimmerman, S.J., was born on an Iowa farm near Westphalia. He worked for some years among the Sioux in South Dakota. This booklet consists mainly of letters he wrote his sister about his efforts as a missionary. It was not easy work but he accepted it in good fashion, since he knew he was helping the poor people he served so faithfully. He died Sept 21, 1954, while in South Dakota and is buried at Holy Rosary Mission in Pine Ridge. The book is an inspiration and well worth reading.

This unpretentious literary travelogue provides an excellent window into a number of top American crime writers and the (mostly urban) areas they inhabit. Williams' 1989 circuit of the U.S. is a kind of crime fiction grand tour, as he visits thirteen established and up-and-coming authors (only one of whom is female) in ten locations, each of which gets about 20-25 pages or so, as follows:

Miami >> Carl Hiassen (Lucky You, Stormy Weather), James Hall Louisiana >> James Lee Burke New Mexico >> Tony Hillerman Los Angeles >> James Ellroy, Gar Anthony Haywood San Francisco >> Joe Gores (32 Cadillacs) Missoula, MT >> James Crumley (Bordersnakes) Chicago >> Sara Partesky, Eugene Izzi Detroit >> Elmore Leonard (Be Cool, Cuba Libre, Pronto, Pagan Babies, Riding the Rap) Boston >> George V. Higgins New York >> Andrew Vachss

Williams is clearly a believer in detective fiction as social portraiture and commentary, and like myself, he's most interested in what is generally classified under the catchall terms "hard-boiled" or "noir." That is to say, crime novels about the everyday criminal world, as opposed to semi-mythical world of "The Godfather," the serial-killer world of Hannibal Lechter, or the cozy world of crime-solving cats or little old ladies. Williams tends to stay in the cheaper, and thus seedier, parts of the places he visits, and tries to get the writers to show him around, show him their world. In addition to touring the seedy side of America, Williams often takes side-trips of a musical nature--as befits his music journalist career. His contrasting of a (white) cajun fete with a (black) zydeco dance is one of the truly telling parts of his journey. The conversations with the writers are intermittently interesting, although it's interesting to note that many of them came from impoverished backgrounds and came to writing by accident. Another similarity is their rough treatment at the hands of Hollywood. Most of the writers are extremely forthcoming and open with Williams, the most notable exception being Higgins, who comes off as a pompous ass in comparison to the rest of the book's subjects.

Some twelve years after Williams' trip, it's rather amazing to find that 12 of the 13 writers are still going strong, with a string of books to their credit from the intervening years. Indeed some, like Carl Hiassen, James Lee Burke, James Ellroy, and Elmore Leonard have gotten considerably more famous. The one writer who isn't still producing is Eugene Izzi, who was found dead in 1997, hanging from his 14th-story office window in what was ruled a bizarre suicide...

Since writing this book, Williams has gone on to write crime fiction himself, including the 1983-set London novel Faithless, and a collection of stories set in the Cardiff underworld, Five Pubs, Two Bars and a Nightclub.

Two young women (sisters), from a fairly well-to-do family back East, bought into the turn-of-the-century land-grab hype, and decided to stake a claim to free land in South Dakota. It had recently been acquired from the Sioux Indians by the Federal Government, and was ripe for the taking by persons willing to abide by the rules of claim, which required living on the land for eight months. Eight months in South Dakota, in the dead of winter, in a wooden box called a house, about eight feet by ten feet in size. The only insulation was torn tar paper on the outside of a house which had no stove. When the snow didn't come through the cracks, the blowing sand did. Frozen water had to be melted for drinking, and there was no well on the land.

This is the story of how they lived, endured, and survived, during their time on the land they claimed. Living through almost the same hardships of the Pioneers from 100 years earlier, they were miles from any neighbors, were terrified of the Indians, and for a while, had no horse. And no income.

As I laid in my comfy, warm bed, reading this book a few years ago, I continually felt guilty, for my part, for what they endured to achieve what they wanted. We take so much for granted today, in our country, and never give pause to what those before us went through, suffered through, and the prices they paid. This is a fascinating look into a short period in the lives of these two sisters, and a reminder, that few things of value in life are easily obtained.

As a 5th grader I recommend the book *Legends of the Mighty Sioux* because it's a detailed, fun, and entertaining book. This book has a variety of stories, so you won't get bored reading one whole book. Some of my favorite stories in the book are "The Gift of the Peace Pipe", and "Maiden's Isle". My very favorite is "Punished Woman's Lake". It's my favorite story because the legend is about a married couple who is broken apart by the chief who wants to take a wife. So to protect her, at night, the real husband took her on his horse and they ran away together. But the chief realized that the wife was missing and sent out warriors to find her. When they found her, the chief killed the real husband and tied the wife to a tree until she said she said she would live with him. The chief had a bad heart and didn't wait for her answer and killed her. Because he murdered two innocent people, a lightning bolt hit him and he was also killed. No one knew where it came from. But from that day forever the Indians had a good heart learning that being bad never pays. I would change three things in this book: longer stories so people will be entertained longer, more scary stories so you could have more excitement, and more books written by this tribe. Thank You.

This book highlights the work of a Milwaukee church designer, Anton Dohnen, who in the early part of the 20th century did work re magnificent Catholic Churches in the central Dakotas. Especially interesting is his account of St. Anthony's Church in Hoven, South Dakota, often called "The Cathedral of the Prairies" even though it is not a cathedral strictly speaking--it was just built with the magnificence which is sometimes put into a cathedral. As I read the account I surely wished that I could at once go to Hoven and see the church, which apparently has not been 'modernized' to such an extent as to lose the character which inspired the builders. The account of how some of these great Dakota churches have been done over so as to destroy their original appearance is so sad, but the people and priests at Hoven did not succumb to the fever which swept thru land in the sixties and seventies. It is also of interest that some of the destruction which was done to historic churches in that era is now being undone and the churches are being restored to their original magnificence. The book is a book to treasure, and one is grateful to the authors despite their seeming to be somewhat unfamiliar with Catholicism and its tenets and practices. Anyone interested in church architecture and living in or planning to visit North or South Dakota should glory in this book.

Mobil guides in general have some of the info you need for your stay but I prefer location specific guides more. They only list a few of each (hotels, restaurants, attractions etc.) Overall it was helpful but I wouldn't use it by itself. There isn't enough info about each area.

Marilyn Preheim Rose is a Car Mennonite as opposed to an Old Order Mennonites that does not drive motor vehicles. Her book looks like it was originally her PhD dissertation because it has a 'Review of the Literature' section in addition to sociological interview material that she created during her research. And she calls it a "dissertation" (p5).

Her study focuses on the people who leave the Mennonite community in East Freeman, South Dakota and their struggles to maintain their identity. The Mennonites are German-speaking and many came from here from Germany by way of Russia. During the Protestant Reformation, Anabaptists (Hutterites, Amish, and Mennonites) were being slaughtered by Catholics and other Protestants. Being pacifists, they ran to Russia, then they ran to America. Actually Mennonites ran to a variety of global destinations including Mexico, Belize and even Argentina. So Mennonites have a history of migrating, but historially they migrate as a community.

The core identity of a Mennonite is pacifism and adult baptism ("ana-baptist") in a context of close familial ties. Who we are is what we were when we were young, and Rose looks at how migrants draw on their cultural baggage to adapt to new environments. Her community appears to be struggling in its efforts to preserve Mennonite values and culture. It's falling upon individual effort to sustain it.

This book is a wonderful exploration of one of America's most important early film makers, and black heros, who is all but forgotten today. The book centers on Micheaux's early life mostly, and you get to see what drove the man to be the great pioneer he was. A fascinating study of what one man can acheive in a time and place when he should not have been able to acheive such heights. Great reading.

I enjoyed reading about life in the first half of the 20th century, told vividly and humorously. Walta tells about her childhood as if she were still a little girl experiencing it, but her style of writing changes as she "grows up." I split my sides laughing at the joke pulled on her step-dad at the Chivaree, but the Great Depression stories about sharing cold biscuits with a tramp and being bilked by an escaped convict are poignant and sensitive. She's a good "story-teller," with the ability to paint pictures with her words. She's the kind of author you'd like to get to know.