Given the scattered and obscure accounts of Hole In The Day (both younger and elder), this little book is a welcome volume. Diedrich clearly spent his time digging through archives and old newspapers to gather his information on the Ojibwe leaders. However, the writing tends to lose its focus and sometimes leaves the reader having to sort and sequence all the facts. Aside from some of these technical flaws, the book does give a context for two of Minnesota's most fascinating and dynamic figures

the book was very interesting to me. it told about there adventure of boating down the mississippi river and what they seen on there adventure and the people they met on there adventure down the mississippi river

When many people think of naval action in the Civil War, they likely think of the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack. Ellet's Brigade is about the "brown water" action that took place around Vicksburg before and after the seige of that Confederate city. The brigade was run by a visionary, Charles Ellet, Jr., who believed the way to defeat the Confederate river navy was to use inexpensive, expendable rams. His thinking led to the Union victory at Memphis, where he was killed. After Ellet's death, no one knew what to do with the fleet of rams. Rear Admiral Porter, with the help of Ellet's relatives, developed a Marine unit and used the rams as part of a counter insurgency group against rebel guerrilla activities. Ultimately this effort failed, because there was no effective chain of command over the brigade. The brigade essentially ran itself and during the years following Memphis hurt the Union effort in the west as much as it helped it. Author Chester G. Hearn does a great job moving the story forward and documenting the facts. This is a good read and well worth any Civil War buff's time. I strongly recommend it.

This is a reprint of the actual guide book used by many pioneers. In various diaries it is referred to as "Ware's Guide." I found it to be amazingly accurate and was shocked to learn that Joseph Ware never completed the trip west. He was abandoned on the trail when he took ill and died where they left him.

In yet another brilliantly written nonfiction book, Lauber twists and turns through the natural and social history of the mighty Mississippi River. From formation to channeling efforts and natural disasters to future plans, the narrative text blends scientific and real-life accounts to present all the "tributaries" of the River. The combination of full-color photographs, illstrations, and maps complements and elaborates the informative and readable text. Lauber concentrates on particular places and people affectd by the flood of 1993, anchoring the more complicated geology and more technological engineering in explicit examples to which readers can relate. Lauber, an indepth researcher, provides specific scienctific facts and descriptions, further depicting the dismal effects of flooding. The remarkable photography records the natural disasters caused by Mother Nature. Catastropic images along the Mississippi transition to photographs of solid community support, affirming readers' beliefs in human acts of kindness. Such integration of photography creates a style that engages the reader; livley writing provides a more comprehensive understanding of the man versus nature conflict. The orderly, attractive design of the text answers questions about the past and evokes new ones regarding the future of the Mississippi River. Contrasting the power of nature and the powerlessness of mankind to fully control the mighty Mississippi; this photo-essay narrative stimulates an interest for real-life science in upper elementary readers.

The photographer does an excellent job of using his subject to tell his thoughts. By keeping some photographs on a long exposure, he also shows the fleeting nature of these somewhat depressed settings. Also a strong use of color to illustrate the cultural setting and importance despite the deprived economic environment. Of high importance for anyone interested in the deep south and the heritage of the mississippi delta.

I live in Jackson and learned some history from this book. It was very enjoyable to read. It is neat to read book and be able to visualize the places that they are taking place. I am now on the fourth book - New comer in New Albany. Keep up the good work Phil!

The authors did a good job of research and excellent writing to give us a sense of life in Nauvoo. Of course, some controversial subjects are broached, polygamy, masonry, etc. but these were a part of life in Nauvoo so to shrink away from discussing them would have been to completley distort Nauvoo during the 1840's. The footnotes were easy to find and follow and the bibliography was excellent. This book is reccomened to anyone interested in Mormon Church history, and is indispensable if you want to learn about or write about Nauvoo, Illinois.

Gary C. Anderson is considered an expert on Dakota/Sioux history, largely due to this book, "Kinsmen of Another Kind: Dakota-White Relations in the Upper Mississippi Valley, 1650-1862." It is a reprint, I believe, of his doctoral dissertation, and includes a new introduction of the original 1984 printing ... For a neophyte such as myself, the book is a bit too detailed for an introduction to Dakota history, but Anderson does help the beginner by vigorously emphasizing general themes throughout the book.

Anderson's central theme in his book is one of kinship ties. In Dakota culture, Anderson argues, one could be "adopted" into a tribe, band, or Dakota family by going through either a ceremony or marrying a Dakota. Once this was done, that person (and there is no distinction among Indians or Whites in this matter) is considered a part of the tribe. White traders as early as the French in the 17th century used these ties to great effect because it allowed the traders to employ Dakota hunters as fur gatherers. But the ties also required the traders who used them to treat their new Dakota kin as family, something some traders failed to do on a regular basis. Some of these traders let the relationships lapse, or did not give gifts to their Dakota kin (an essential aspect of the give and take of the relationship). Throughout the book, Anderson sledgehammers this concept again and again, showing how kinship bonds so heavily relied upon in the earliest days of Dakota-White contact faded into obscurity as time went by and Whites gained the upper hand in the region in terms of military, political, and economic strength. By the time of the Dakota uprising of 1862, kinship ties were nearly nonexistent.

An effective way to read this book, and one that my professor is trying to drill into our heads, is to try and examine Anderson's findings from an Indian perspective. When this is done, numerous problems with the book emerge.

First, Anderson relies heavily on European sources for his information. While his list of these sources in the back of the book is truly impressive (he examines everything from diaries, travelogues, journals, letters, government documents, books, and treaties), his use of native oral tradition is scarce. Dakota oral stories do exist concerning contact with Europeans, but after reading this book, you would never know it. This may stem from the time in which Anderson wrote the book, as there is now a greater awareness of the need to utilize these sources in order to achieve a finer balance and larger historical picture.

Second, for an Indian scholar, Anderson at times shows a slight insensitivity to the Dakota. It is easy to get carried away with this point and indulge in the type of reckless statements made by the politically correct crowd, but a few statements Anderson makes could be considered crass. For instance, he calls Andrew Jackson's removal program, a program that forced Indians throughout the United States off of their land (often at gunpoint), "humane." During his exposition of the Dakota uprising in 1862, Anderson incessantly refers to Dakotas as either "friendlies" or "hostiles." Now this may be true from the standpoint of the settlers in the region dodging Indian bullets, but it probably had different connotations for those Dakotas who participated in the revolt.

Despite the few biased comments, Anderson doesn't disregard the shameful aspects of the treaty process between Dakotas and the United States government. Time and time again, treaties signed with the Dakotas promised much and delivered little. It was the traders who committed the most egregious sins; they used their position as suppliers for the Dakota to falsify debt records, presenting bills to the federal government for outlandish amounts of money "owed" to them by the Dakotas. When the treaty money finally came through, the traders skimmed this amount right off the top, often getting the amounts written directly into the treaty agreements. As if that isn't bad enough, some of the treaty commissioners indulged in a little corruption themselves, taking tens of thousands of dollars as "fees" for transporting the payments from Washington to the Dakota tribes in Minnesota. At least when this happened, it still meant the Dakotas got some of the money. Oftentimes, either the money didn't come through at all, or would be delivered months late, leading to starvation for the tribes who needed the funds for essential supplies. Eventually, the government realized they could purposefully withhold the money in order to force the Dakota to do things the government wanted done. This withholding of funds is what led to the destructive uprising in 1862, leading to the deaths of hundreds of Dakotas and Whites.

It would have been extremely helpful if Anderson included some decent maps in this book. We get two, one puny map of the upper Mississippi area and one of the Dakota reservations along the Minnesota River. Neither does effective service to the huge amount of place names Anderson drops during the course of his work. They also fail to help the reader place the various tribes within the Dakota Nation. This is important because Anderson often refers to the Mdewankantons, Sissetons, Wahpekutes, etc. These are the separate Dakota tribes, and they move about frequently, so frequently that locating them on the maps provided defies even the hardiest efforts.

For a detailed, scholarly history of the Eastern Dakota tribes, this book, despite its many flaws, does the trick. The research, for the sources it does utilize, is well done. Gary Anderson is to be commended for a fascinating look at a way of life long gone from the American scene.

Mark Twain began his career writing books about travel. Life on the Mississippi is about traveling the Mississippi. It is also about Twain's life as a river boat pilot. Anyone interested in Twain or the history of the Mississippi river should read this book.

As a business person, I really enjoyed the strategy involved in the Pilot's union that is described in the book.