South Dakota Books

Don't expect to find everything mentioned in the book; it's been awhile since it's been written. I can only speak for Harrold, SD, but the Centennial Cafe has been torn down, and Bohning's Grocery went out, though the building's still there. Still, it's a good history, and the most thorough one about the state that I've read. That includes the ones about Deadwood and Mt. Rushmore, because of their narrow scope.

Latza's latest book is a fantastic piece of work. From the people and the places to the wildlife and the vistas, Greg's book covers it all. "The Missouri" gives the reader a great feel for the importance, the mystery and the beauty of this historic river. Whether you've lived near the river your entire life or only visited, this is a book you should have on your coffee table.

Moths instinctively gravitate toward flames. Kreitzer pens an erotic and captivating collection of poems that intrigue and intice. Using mind melting words, he takes you into a past love, your present life or a future passion.

A truly inspiring read.

The beauty of this book is that you are stepping inside the intimate circles of a real American family who resolutely and regularly corresponded with warmth and wit, and sometimes despair. This is not a fictionalized narrative; it is a collection of real letters, edited by a descendent of the writers. Still, you can imagine it being turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep as the heroine (Fannie McClurg) a 40-year-old mother of six, alone with her father on the Dakota frontier, fondly, longingly, writing to her husband back in Missouri.

The Mystery of the Round Rocks is an educational children's picturebook about the mysterious and powerful forces of nature that have affected our planet for millions years. When a boy and a girl discover a stacked mound of smooth, round stones, their grandfather tells them the amazing true story of how the stones came to be. The force of a glacier once crept across the land, shaping the earth and smoothing rocks; when the glacier retreated, the humans who came much later to farm the land stacked the rocks in a pile so they could plow the earth. The simple, shaded color illustrations add a visual touch to this geological tale. Highly recommended.

"A New South Dakota History is a gift to South Dakota from the Center for Western Studies and it will remain so even when it becomes an old history. Only the title will lose relevance."
--Reviewed in South Dakota Magazine (Nov/Dec 2005)

This inspirational book offers a rare and honest view of one woman's challenging journey from ranch woman to writer.

From the start it is clear the journey isn't an easy one. Klippenstein begins by touching upon her personal experience of suffering through the Farm Crisis of the 1980s and of losing the South Dakota ranch she and her husband, Marc, had owned: "Not the kind of lost where you set the car keys on top of the refrigerator and find them two months later during a house-cleaning binge. More like the lost as in lost youth. You had it once. Used it. Enjoyed it. And then you were stripped of youthful exuberance and creamy soft skin."

Ironically, this losing-it-all experience supplies Klippenstein with the grit and gumption to go after her dream of becoming a writer. The book takes the reader on the ups and downs of learning the ropes of the publishing business. It is a journey where hope quickly blossoms, then almost as suddenly is dashed; where self-pity and self-doubt ride an emotional roller coaster with pride and confidence.

Torn between wanting to become a voice for the American rancher, yet admitting that she resisted becoming "emotionally involved with ranching again," Klippenstein writes, "I grew up in Pittsburgh. My Mayflower ancestors were seamen and merchants, inventors and scholars. I was devastated as we slowly lost the ranch and had to ship our cattle to market. I lost my dream. The dream betrayed me. The land and cattle betrayed me. My background didn't hold me to the land the way it held Marc. What I saw as risks, Marc saw as challenges."

Be it risk or challenge, opportunity or struggle, hope or angst, ranching or writing, A Path of Colored Leaves speaks very intimately to all of these yet leaves the reader feeling renewed and refreshed, ready to take on any personal dream abandoned - an especially helpful book for the novice writer to have at hand.

The good news is that this 1948 book has just been republished by the South Dakota State Historical Press and my signed copy, that arrived today, from author Gilbert Fite (87) now accompanies the 1948 original that this fine historian also sent me two years ago.

This publication on Senator Norbeck has been virtually unobtainable which is why I tracked the author down after reading his excellent 1952 book 'Mount Rushmore' - still the best on the politics and history of the great memorial and fortunately still available via Amazon's used book service.

Norbeck was a most unusual Republican, supporting state enterprises, but one who suited the times and Fite shows how he successfully prevented the Nonpartisan League enjoying the same success in South Dakota that they had enjoyed in North Dakota by capturing their political ground.

While attacking them as radical socialists and disloyal to the Great War effort, the then state governor denied he was a socialist and that entrance by the state into certain lines of business was not socialism, particularly when it prevented exorbitant profits being made by monopolists. Shades of Teddy Roosevelt.

Whether it was progressivism or socialism Norbeck certainly promoted things like rural credit programs, a state coal mine and cement plant (the latter lasting for three-quarters of a century) while his sponsorship of good roads, railways free text book schemes, assistance to war veterans, grain-marketing acts are all detailed.

Given all this it is perhaps not surprising that Norbeck was one of the few GOP survivors in the era of FDR and the New Deal. Fite describes vividly the tensions in Republican ranks in SD between the prairie populist and conservatives in the leadup to the 1932 watershed election that obviously pointed to the end of Republican rule, under the impact of the Great Depression.

After an easy primary win Norbeck was returned for a third term when he beat his Democratic rival by 26,000 votes, despite the fact that in the presidential contest FDR carried the state by 84,000 votes. By the 1936 election the ailing SD Republican senator was positively endorsing FDR against GOP challenger Alf Landon!

Like the earlier Roosevelt (TR), Norbeck was also a great conservationist and as Fite points out Mt Rusmore, Custer State Park, the Badlands National Park, the Migratory Bird Act are all testimonials to his efforts as both a state and federal legislator. Norbeck's wish, "I would rather be remembered as an artist than as US senator," would certainly earn favour with all those, (including this Australian reviewer), who have travelled along the aesthetically pleasing Needles Highway in the Black Hills,as part of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, artistic proof of his insistence for the road to blend in with the environment rather than disturb the beauty of this wonderful area.

Norbeck's capacity to understand the importance of harmonising roads and tourism with the environment has helped make the Mount Rushmore and Black Hills area such an enduring attraction.

As an agricultural historian and a native of South Dakota, Professor Fite, is clearly at home with his subject and his works have continually survived the test of time. The re-publication of this fine biography is long overdue and hopefully it will be well received by American readers and, like his 'Mount Rushmore,' is well worth reading by anyone with a passion for western or Great Plains history.

On a personal note I wish the author, now in Florida, a long and healthy retirement and thank him for his contribution to making South Dakotan and American history such a pleasurable experience to the reader.

The third volume of the South Dakota State Historical Press 'Historical Preservation' series, "Picturing The Past" is a compilation of seventy-eight vividly dramatic, black-and-white photographs of various buildings and places taken by professional photographer Scott Myers and which are provided with historical context by Jay D. Vogt and Stephen C. Rogers. Showcasing the architecture and scenes tangible associated with life on the Great Plains, "Picturing The Past" is a welcome memorial and tribute to an American yesteryear of hard work, high hopes, and pioneering history. Indeed, "Picturing The Past" is so well done that it could readily serve as a template for similar photographic studies for other American regional history projects.

I truly enjoyed the pristine and perceptive photography combined with the accompanying narrative. This is a work of substance and a good companion for one planning a visit to this location. If one cannot visit in person, I highly recommend visiting via this outstanding publication. Mr. Raventon and Mr. Horsted are to be commended for their contribution to capturing this piece of the natural history of this fascinating area.