North Dakota Books

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I found this book being both an honest account and a more accurate description of the Indian-American experience, as it comes from a man who was both Indian and personally lived through the trials and hardships through the Sioux tribe.

What is so interesting about the story is the naïve attribute of Luther Standing Bear and his honest, open and yet hold fast integrity. His trusting nature was so evident through out the story and yet he did not lack any intelligence and understanding. Of course those Indians with such nature were taken advantage of, and yet Luther Standing Bear remains always optimistic. There were many hardships, as in the loss of his free world and native life to a utilitarian white man's world of hustle and capitalism.

First there was much land taken and much sold with fraudulent treaties with government subsidiaries supplied, but it was the White's destruction of natural resources, the loss of the Buffalo and available food that caused the Indian's independence to wain and turn to the White man's society. This in turn set them up for what came next:

"Then like a thunderbolt from a clear sky came on order from the Interior Department that all rations and annuity goods which had been issued to all able-bodied Indians were to be cut off unless the Indians were willing to work for them."

This both took many Indians away from their homes to labor and in Luther Standing Bear's case, three jobs he took to support himself. The John Stuart Mill version of democracy, it's utilitarian enforcement of productivity is now forced on the Indian culture, a people whose land and free paced life was removed from them.

Luther relates how many whites took advantage of the non-English speaking Indians signing fraudulent land selling agreements, including a few unscrupulous Indians as Spotted Tail, who did the selling. There was also mentioned his experience of observing those Indians who were promised to be brought to Washington to speak to the government, but were being unknowingly used as city stop side shows, with tickets sales to the white men's advantage.

There were also the innocent killing of many Indians, the force of White man's culture, including the clothes, the cutting of hair, the religious teachings, the restriction against using his native tongue, and yet in Luther Standing Bear considered it bravery and wisdom to adopt the white man's ways and learn as much as he can to prove to the world that the Indians were both capable and good at living and producing just as the white men. His attendance at the Carlyle School, his relations and actions towards those in charge were so admirable.

The was also the death of two of his children, the event of a terrible train crash, events that would leave a horrendous impact on any person, and this man, Luther Standing Bear, maintains a strength of internal character that is most impeccable of a high and honorable nature. Not many persons would have remained so, and there is no complaining from him here, no venting, only stating his objective observances of both positive and negative occurrences and his subjective opinions written in such fair assessments.

Luther also relates how his people missed a few chances to better their predicament with the government as in Buffalo Bill's attempt to speak to the president in behalf of them and another occurrence where an agent influenced many to protect his own monetary interests.

Between Luther and his father, they understood the white man's invasion of the Indian world was "thick" and it was in wisdom to adopt their ways in order to survive. The major drawback from all this was the adoption also meant assimilation, as the dress, the religion and the language of the Indian was discouraged by the white man to be beneath his culture as inferior.

And yet all of the above was not meant as partisan to negativity, but rather, Luther was always optimistic, anxious to please his instructors and employers, admirable in is his constant desire to please the people he worked with, Captain Pratt in the Carlyle School, his employer at the Department Store, Buffalo Bill and many others. And for this he was very well liked, including by myself.

Narratives by women who were captured by Indians once comprised an integral part of the literature of the American Frontier, defined by Frederick Jackson Turner as the "meeting place between savagery and civilization." Although many such narratives were lurid, dime-novel accounts, akin to the supermarket tabloids of our own time, Fanny Kelly's was the real thing.

At the age of 19, she was traveling west with her husband and family when she was captured by Oglala Sioux warriors west of Fort Laramie on July 12, 1864. Hers is a remarkable tale of survival by an intelligent, strong young woman and she was finally released at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory on December 12, 1864.

MY CAPTIVITY AMONG THE SIOUX INDIANS is one of the best captivity narratives as well as one of the last. If you were with an emigrant train on the Oregon Trail, you would know Fanny Kelly and her story.

Her book is available in a number of formats and editions. Mine is an old paperback edition with an excellent introduction by Professor Jules Zanger of Southern Illinois University. I gave it five stars because I found Fanny Kelly's writing clear, easy to understood, and accurate insofar as I could verify it.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) lends itself to the Trails Illustrated Series because it consists of several different units (North, South, and Elkhorn) that can be splayed over both sides of the map. This map also covers the 90-mile long Maah Daah Hey Trail, which connects all three units while going through the Little Missouri National Grassland.

The map is done at a very useful scale. Though there's only about 500 feet of elevation in the entire park, there's a lot of fairly steep up and down in places. (That's why they called it "Badlands.") The contour lines show this very effectively, so you shouldn't be surprised.

In terms of production values, this is the most beautiful of the Trails Illustrated maps that I have. Parcels of land are shaded by owner (national park, forest service, state of North Dakota, private) and the colors are well-chosen so that the whole map *looks* good. There are also colorful symbols for prairie dog towns, oil wells, water sources, vegetation, and other features. Again, it's just pleasant to look at in addition to being useful.

Roads are marked so that you don't trespass, and the official wilderness areas are also clearly marked as such. All in all, it's what a topo map should be.

I loved looking through the book and seeing pictures of places I have been. It is filled with interesting facts and history that I enjoyed. There was even a picture of a place a few blocks from my childhood home. I showed the picture to all my freinds in Texas.

The "Portrait of America" series is a wonderful introduction for pre-teens to the 50 states and to the places and events that shaped the history of the United States. This "North Dakota" installment is particularly good. The book is broken down into sections like "History", "Culture", "Economy" etc., and each section is thoughtfully written and edited. The "Culture" section is especially good and is very inclusive.

This book, as well as the entire "Portrait of America" series, will prove to be a valuable teaching tool to all primary school educators.

Death of a Swagman was written in the mid point of Arthur Upfields career and shows in his attention to detail and his ability to capture the feling of Australian country towns in the early part of our century. The story is a good detective novel in its own right with plenty of plots and action and red herrings. Bony's relationship with Rose Marie is used as a strong pivot point throughout the novel giving a useful viewpoint of the running of the town from a child's perspective. The advantage of this book over other bony novels is the character development of the subjects. This gives a depth and humanity which remains after the story is finished. The narrative of the swagmans lifestyle and its mythology is addressed here with great detail and provides a refreshing glimpse of a bygone era.

This is one of the best joke books I have ever read. Montanans (oh which I am one) tell jokes about North Dakotans, and this has a collection of some of the best jokes compiled by Mike Dalton. When I was a child, I carried this book around and told anyone who would listen the jokes in the book. Some of these jokes have been around for years and repackaged as blond jokes among many others. I HIGHLY recommend this classic joke book for adults as well as older children. It is clean and very funny with illustrated pictures for some of the jokes, even.

Matt Malone comes through again, and so does Marlene Chabot. Her second novel in the series is again rich in detail, local color, and interesting twists. Ride along to North Dakota for an ending sure to surprise you!

If you like to know the history of placenames, this is a great book. I lived in North Dakota for 15 years and first heard about such a field of study from Greek teacher at the University of North Dakota. This book, written by an amatuer, is clearly a labor of love and the definitive one in its field. All the minutiae are in it. Good job all around. And the pictures are wonderful.

Northern Harvest documents the rise of Pentecostalism in North Dakota from a few scattered congregations at the turn of the twentieth-century to its present status as the state's fourth largest religious group. While revivals in Topeka, Kansas (1901) and Los Angeles, California (1906-09) became the focal point of the emerging worldwide Pentecostal movement, earlier revivals in Minnesota and the Dakotas provided it with precedents and leaders. This is the first significant study of Pentecostal origins in Scandinavian pietism in Minnesota and the Dakotas, exploring the movement's roots outside the American Wesleyan and Holiness traditions.
This account chronicles:

- Histories of over 400 Pentecostal churches and outstations in North Dakota, plus outreaches in additional cities and churches in border communities in surrounding states

- Previously undocumented information about Pentecostals in Minnesota and the Dakotas from the 1890s-1900s, including brief biographies of Carl M. Hanson (early evangelist) and Mary Johnson (earliest-known Pentecostal missionary)

- Histories of two dozen Pentecostal denominations or groups in North Dakota (including Apostolic Faith Mission, Asamblea Apostolica de la Fe en Cristo Jesus, Assemblies of God, Assembly of God Missionary Fellowship, Association of Vineyard Churches, Calvary Chapel, Christian International Network of Churches, Church of God (Cleveland, TN), Church of God in Christ, Church of God (Jerusalem Acres), Church of God of Prophecy, Church of God of the Firstborn, Fellowship of Christian Assemblies, German Church of God, Gospel Crusade, Independents (Oneness, Trinitarian, and Word of Faith), International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, National and International Pentecostal Missionary Union, Open Bible Standard Churches, Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Pentecostal Church of God, The Church of God, and United Pentecostal Church)

- Pentecostalism's development among Anglo, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Native American, African American, and Slavic peoples in North Dakota

- The role of female ministers in Pentecostal churches in North Dakota

- The community and political involvement of early Pentecostals in North Dakota

Northern Harvest is well-documented (containing 1,732 footnotes), its indices tally 497 cities and 2,843 personal names, and nineteen pages of tables and charts contain extensive statistical data regarding Pentecostalism's development across North Dakota. This book contains a wealth of information - unavailable elsewhere - regarding geneaology and family history.