I have used the earlier version of this book for a while and liked the fine photographs and concise, well chosen information on each page. The photos are interspersed with line drawings of critical floral features, a nice touch. I had only wished that the authors would produce a version with some of the common grasses and sedges. Voila, the 3rd edition includes a section on these ubiquitous but often overlooked plants that is up to the standard of the rest of the book. A note for novices: the book is organized by plant families, not flower color - this makes the book a bit harder to consult for occaisional use (there are simple keys to help you get to the right place) but getting to know the plant families will pay off in the long run. A very helpful book for the novice, advanced amateur, or botanist getting to know the area for the first time.

Marshall provides a deep insight into the Native American world through the medium of the novel. The tale describes a society's reaction to agents of change and the means by which the changes are assimilated into culture.

Winter of the Holy Iron describes the affects of the "white man" and the new technologies used by the "white man" on Native American culture. Rather than being a simple comparitive novel, Marshall weaves a tale of conflict, understanding, and uncertainty from the perspective of a Native American but does not come to conclusions. According to the story, these types of change face us all -- across time and across cultures. This universal treatment makes Marshall's novel interesting reading and a compelling analysis of Native American and White cultures.

Marshall portrays the Native American as far more than a passive character in history or the blood-thirsty savage. Marshall's works define the Native American as an active participant in history. This refreshing perspective, along with his oral-storytelling-tradition-on-paper writing style, define the the Native American as active and not necessarily reactionary. Even today, Marshall's tale still accurately describes the issues between acceptance of foreign ideas and goods (assimilation) and the rejection of such ideas.

I have read Marshall's two other works in book form (I found his works by chance). Winter of the Holy Iron is different from his essays but embodies the best of his short essay narratives and descriptions (like those from Dance House : Stories from Rosebud). The novel is very well written and allows Marshall to develop characters that are unforgettable -- something he also masters in his short essays. This book is a true 5 star work.

Having begun working with birds of prey (in a rehabilitation center) in the last couple of years I have searched for books that gave more personal insights into the practice of falconry. Mr.O'Brien certainly knows his subject and does a fine job of describing the sport and the birds themselves. His accounts of hacking (early training) young peregrines in particular are excellent. I found his descriptions of what can go wrong as well as right in the caring and training of these birds quite illuminating and engrossing. His use of falconers-speak is well balanced with the story and the annotations quite helpful for those unfamiliar with the sport.
I unfortunately found the overall concept of a man in midlife attempting to convince the reader that he is on a quest for some sort of middle age epiphany a bit trying. His relationship with his wife - an anesthesiologist who spends the majority of her time in a sleep deprived state, taking hospital call, and generally supporting his rather indulgent and self-centered lifestyle- frustrated me and was distracting from an otherwise interesting story about the training of a gifted young peregrine falcon.
I give much credit to Mr. O'Brien for being a man in touch with nature and clearly environmentally sensitive and conservation oriented but, as my wife said after finishing the book, he comes across as something of a jerk in his personal life. Given that Mr. O'Brien's skills in describing the beauty of the land he lives on and the animals he has the great privilege of interacting with are most enviable, it's a shame that this aspect diminishes an otherwis excellent story.

I liked this book. At times, there may have been too much emphasis on the dogs, or too much on just falcons (red-tailed hawk coverage would have been great, but the author caters to peregrine falcons, so it is obviously his choice). Regardless, the amount of detailed coverage is impressive and written very well. Fortunately, the author eases you into the detail and doesn't toss it in your lap like some books. Whenever a new falconry term is mentioned in the text, there is a small side-bar definition of that term.

Some have said that the author's attitude gets in the way. When I read the few pages from the website, I also got a little of that. However, when I read the rest of the book, I did not get that at all. Often, appearances can be deceiving.

I was surprised at how good this book was. I expected it to be a primer for my interest in falconry but found it to be so much more. It is a fantastic account of the training of a raptor and the relationship between man and bird. Obviously passionate about his undertaking the author describes the training process in vivid detail making a compelling story to the end. With an equally interesting personal story that parallels his bird of prey adventure this book makes for a very enjoyable read.

In 1862 some of the Sioux in Minnesota reacting to starvation rations and delayed annuities rose up against the white settlers. The result was a great loss of life and suffering on both sides.

The author gives a fairly even handed account of this uprising, however, I think he dwelt just a little too much on graphic accounts of the atrocities committed by the Indians. Not that I think it would be fair to white-wash their participation. Under the influence of alcohol and the breakdown of their society, I'm sure that some of these atrocities did occur. However, we must keep in mind that it was long assumed that the Plains Indians tortured live victims because bodies were often found mutilated. In most cases, though, these mutilations took place after death. Also the eye-witness accounts of those suffering from fear, starvation, and delirium, may not be the best to rely upon, especially as they were probably told after the fact.

Still the author does a very good job of handling the politics on the Indian side, and showing how innocents on both sides suffered, while many of the guilty did not. This episode also brings up many questions about assimilation, mob psychology, and human behavior. This is definitely a must-read for anyone interested in Native American history or the history of the American West.

In "Over the Earth I Come," military historian Duane Schultz writes a popular history of the infamous Dakota uprising of 1862. The title of the book comes from a Dakota chant of defiance, a fitting title for a book that describes the efforts of a people to cast off the heavy chains of hopelessness, starvation, and general depravation forged through contact with the American government and its Indian agents.

Schultz writes a gripping account of all aspects of the uprising and the aftereffects of the rebellion. The author weaves narratives of survivors with political and military events of the uprising into a seamless and compelling account of this unfortunate incident in American history. According to Schultz, some 500 to 2000 whites died in the uprising, many of them German settlers unaware of the danger they faced from the angry Dakotas. Hundreds of Dakotas died as well in the futile military campaigns launched against Fort Ridgley, New Ulm, and at the battle of Birch Coulee. The uprising was a tragedy for everyone involved, from the white women and children who died in astonishingly brutal ways, to the Indians who lost their freedom and lands as a result of the uprising, to President Abraham Lincoln who signed a death warrant for 38 Dakotas (Lincoln lessened the tragedy somewhat by commuting some 264 death sentences). Schultz conveys the tragedy with a heartfelt eloquence that brings tears to your eyes.

Early in the book, Schultz examines the causes of the uprising. Was the uprising inevitable? Schultz's answer is a resounding NO! The Dakotas rebelled against the government agents and white settlers due to starvation, a tardy annuity payment, and poor treatment by Indian agents and German settlers. Cultural factors also played a role, as the government played Indians off against each other by rewarding Indians who played by the rules (those who adopted white culture and farming methods), and withholding supplies from "blanket" Indians (those who refused to adopt an alien culture in order to preserve their ancient way of life). The Indians who refused to adopt white culture watched their converted kin collect supplies and food from government warehouses anytime they needed it, while the blanket Indians collected their food on a set schedule. The blanket Indians eventually formed a soldier's lodge and planned military action against the whites. A harmless incident over some eggs on a white farm escalated into the murder of a family of whites, and the war was on.

Schultz spends much time discussing Little Crow, the leader of the uprising. Little Crow, who initially opposed the uprising, eventually changed his mind and supported the revolt, a decision that doomed Little Crow and his people. After discussing Schultz's presentation of Little Crow with a friend, he asked if Schultz relied on the "noble savage" stereotype while discussing Little Crow. I don't think that is the case here, as Little Crow appears as a politically astute politician, saddened over the deaths of white children and white women while generally making the best of a situation rapidly spiraling beyond his control.

In a move sure to bring about howls of protest from the politically correct crowd who believe Indians can do no wrong, Schultz provides graphic details of the slaughter and torture of white settlers caught in the uprising. Through the use of narrative accounts, we see Indian braves on a murder spree of shocking proportions. Indians dashed the heads of children against trees, dropped rocks on people's heads, and tore limbs from still living children. Indians shook hands in a gesture of "friendship" with whites, and then shot them when they turned their backs. The list of atrocities goes on and on. As bad as these descriptions are, there are many worse ones found in this book. It is understandable that whites howled for blood when the uprising came to an end.

At the same time, Schultz shows us the many Indians disgusted at the behavior of their fellow Indians. Just as people sheltered Jews during World War II, some Indians risked life and limb to protect innocent whites. These Indian men and women were truly saviors to many. But in keeping with the theme of tragedy, Schultz explains how a few innocent Indians died on the gallows; one of them was Chaska, an Indian who protected Sarah Wakefield, a white woman taken captive early in the uprising. Despite Sarah's protestations (or perhaps because of them; whites were not interested in letting any Indian off the hook), Chaska ended up on the gallows.

As a popular history, "Over the Earth I Come" does have its limitations. For example, in his discussion on the causes of the uprising, Schultz completely fails to mention the Spirit Lake massacre in 1857 and the withholding of annuity funds by the government in order to force the Indians to do what the government told them to do. Both of these events contributed to the uprising, and discussing them is essential in understanding the events that followed.

"Over the Earth I Come" is an excellent, well written introduction to this troubling event in American history. The book has all the trappings of a novel: dramatic battles, perilous escapes, mind blowing ironies and "what-ifs," and touching stories of human kindness. Schultz conveys the multiple tragedies of this sad event with great sympathy and understanding.

Over The Earth I Come describes in detail the events and atrocities that eventually lead to the uprising of 1862. You come away ashamed that people could have treated others this way, and a new opinion of the great Henry Sibley and his questionable friends. It is one of those books that is hard to put down once you start reading it. I have so many people asking for my copy that it's almost impossible to keep track of it. It was highly recommended to me by Dr. Gerald Grinde, History professor at Ridgewater College.

This book was really well done. The images of thunderstorms, clouds, tornadoes and various rare weather events are just wonderful. The writer's style is casual and friendly. I really liked the way he would toss in interesting tidbits amoung the technical scientific writing---he'd be writing in depth about how tornadoes form, and would mention as an aside a restaurant all the tornado chasers liked! Anyone who has a fascination for tornadoes will really enjoy this book.

THIS WAS THE BEST BOOK IVE EVER READ ON TORNADOES BRILLIANT PICTURES AND GREAT INFORMATION FILLS THIS BOOK!!!!!! I RECCOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN TORNADOES OR ANY WEATHER PHNOMENA

This book is written so that anyone can (with a little thought) understand the concepts discussed in it. However, this is not to say the book is a bore for the weather enthusiast--quite the contrary, this is the audience it will satisfy most.

I highly recommend this book for any storm enthusiast. In this book, Dr. Bluestein covers a wide range of tornado and severe-weather related topics, as well as some of the history behind how we currently deal with and view weather today. It is not difficult to understand, as it is not an academic text, yet at the same time Dr. Bluestein integrates explanations of core scientific concepts into his chasing tales and weather history narratives. Thus if you only want the book for the sake of tornado pictures and desire little/no scientific content, I suggest you look elsewhere.

This was a captivating story about a young girl and her family's struggles. There is a chance she may lose her best friend, her pony, because of her family's financial troubles. The resolution to this crisis is both heartwarming and inspiring. Leah's selfless act influences others to help as well. You'll love the auction and the ending!

Leah's Pony is a wonderful book about bravery and sacrifice. It portrays one family's struggle and how they overcome hardship. Through one selfless act by the young girl, her family's fortunes change for the better.
Read and enjoy!

Not only is this book beautifully illustrated (the pictures are so detailed and colorful that they literally jump out of the book with each turn of the page), but it carries a poignant story about a family that pulls together through the efforts of a little girl and her pony.

Leah is a very smart farm girl who lives in the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression. When her father cannot meet his loan obligations, the family farm has to be put up at auction. Leah's prize possession is her new pony ("the best in the county") and she comes up with an ingenious plan on how to use the pony to save her family's farm.

This is a remarkable story about a very clever girl. I can't say too much without giving away the entire story, but suffice it to say that this is an educational, inspirational and artistic masterpiece that should be on every child's shelf.

An added bonus: the author includes a very good historical summary at the end of the book.

Enjoy.

Cris

This book only contains brief biographies from five winan pejuta (medicine women), but does not teach the spiritual beliefs of these medicine women.

If you want to read about some of the abilities of medicine and holy people this would be a fairly good place to start.

If you want to understand the spiritual beliefs, and possibly work toward becoming a medicine or holy person; look elsewhere.

My Indian, and Shamanism listmania lists can help you in that search for spiritual beliefs of the American Indians.

I encourage questions and comments about reviews; Two Bears

Wah doh Ogedoda (We give thanks Great Spirit)

I got this book over a week ago and on the way back from Rosebud I read it to my boyfriend while we drove back to oklahoma. We both agreed that this book should be a must for all native American students and also anyone that wants to know about the Lakota Woman. I'm still trying to consume it all. Great book!!! Linda mcgann and Joe Hacker....

Walking in the Sacred Manner is a must read for anyone wanting to learn more about Native American spirituality. It not only gives wonderful accounts of several "medicine women" and how they were called to serve, but gives the "Lakota creation story", and the story of the "White Buffalo Calf Madien" who brought ceremony and rituals to the people that are still practiced today. This book is "good medicine".

The book "The Virginian" being a western book, I was initially skeptical of it being any better then shoot em up giddyup types of books. However I was quickly taken aback by the fact that they never fully identified the background of the Virginian.
Throughout the entire book he remains a mystery, his whole life a mystique aside from what everyone knew which was he came from the eastern part of the country. With a persona that screams Mad Max "The Road Warrior" he is a modest person who goes for the gusto in his ventures during the book. Working in Wyoming his boss Judge Henry, is not very strong as far as standing up for himself is concerned. When a rival rancher hires some bandits to rob a couple of horses from Henry's ranch, it's the Virginian to the rescue. Eventually the book which includes many other swashbuckling adventures, waters down to a duel between the leader of the Bandits and the Virginian. He even has time for a lovelife in the craziness of the west when he hooks up with a school teacher by the name of Molly Stark. The wedding does not go quite as planned though and I suggest you read the novel to eventually find out what happens. A terific story that has been made into two motion pictures, the plot in Owen Wisters story has more twists then a hostess truckload of strudel. For the person that liked the "Lonesome Dove" mini series this book is for you.

This is the classic story by Wister (1860-1938) of the ranch foreman, known only as the Virginian, his courtship of Molly Starkwood, the "schoolmarm" from Vermont, and his conflicts with Trampas. In 1977, the Western Writers of America voted this novel as the top western novel of all time. It probably started the whole genre (even if one counts the pulp fiction popular in the late 19th century). Historians have always pointed out that there never really was a "Code of the West." This was just something thought up by writers, journalists, and film makers. The West was made up of both good and bad men, just as today. But, in my opinion, this book challenges that concept. Wister based his characters on real people he interacted with in the West a few years earlier. There really were men like the Virginian. There really were people who, unknowingly, followed a Code (just as there are today).

I was in the used book store and I saw this book. The Virginian. "Hm," I thought. "I used to watch that show on television when I was a kid." By Owen Wister. "So, it's a book!" And I though that was pretty cute. Oh, and I liked the cover. The edition that I bought was in the Pulp Fiction section of the book store, that real old book smellin', yellowing pages, origional cover price anywhere between 15 and 99 cents section. So I bought it, read a couple of pages expecting to find out that it was the cheesest thing I'd picked up in a hundred years. And before I even knew what was happening The Virginian, black curly hair in desperate need of a cut, quick draw, lonesome maverick, the new teacher for the one room schoolhouse-yes, even the one room schoolhouse!-all were in my purse, going with me everywhere...Never mind that it's a western, get over yourselves and read this book! It's so much fun. Mr. Wister gives a good story, well told.

Ian Frazier's multi-Plains-state odyssey encounters Indians, farmers, cattlemen, outlaws, Anabaptists, the United States Air Force, and most importantly, Lawrence Welk.

An enjoyable, readable book, Frazier's tale is however ultimately tragic. The history of the Plains is largely a succession of social, economic and ecological disasters, including the destruction of the buffalo and the Indian cultures, the boom-and-bust farming era, the Dust Bowl, the depletion of the Ogalalla Aquifer, and, most heartbreakingly written of all, the strip-mining of coal.

Frazier has a mystical experience during a fashion show in Nicodemus, Kansas, experiencing a redemptive joy and a vision of the West that might have been. Nevertheless, his journey as a whole discloses the ruins of conquest, and human beings alienated and spiritually adrift. With the exception of Crazy Horse and Gerard Baker (ranger at Fort Union), no character in Great Plains seems to love the Plains for their own sake. This vast and formerly rich region, so influential in defining America itself, is something to alter, or escape from. The book's final paragraph eloquently summarizes Frazier's tragic vision.

A Wyoming rancher is quoted in Great Plains as saying, "I like beating on things and making them do what I want." His words are perhaps the most concise summary of our Anglo-American attitudes toward the Plains, and indeed all of the Americas.

On the Great Plains is a great look at the land and it's history by a vagabond traveler that initially hooks up with a Sioux indian by the name of Le War Lance in New York and suddenly transports himself in a rusty van to travel the lonely highways of the Great Plains. While rambling through the country side Frazier provides a history of the land and a description of its present day state with a description of the people as well. Stories of Custer, Bonnie Clyde, Crazy Horse ( a particularly long fascination), Billy the Kid and the descriptions of the places that made them famous. Also fraught with humor such as a descriptively long ride to Sitting Bull's former cabin site located beyond the middle of nowhere with a guide that has to study intently a fuel additive bottle before believeing its not the right kind of alcohol. The history and stories of people and places are endlessly fascinating such as the inhabitants of Nicodemus, a black pioneer town that never completely died and that has an annual festival attended by the whole county, the story of Lawrence Welk and how he was once hit by a thrown brick, a description of a present day rendezvous at the site of Brent's Fort, a visit with the future and controversial Superintendent of the Little Bighorn Battlefield Gerad Baker and many more descriptions and historic story telling. More poignant in that Frazier travels as a modest man that sleeps frequently in his van while listening to the land outside including the ocassional vehicle that goes by in the night. A precursor to "On the Rez".

Great Plains is a cross between Kathleen Norris' "Dakota" and William Least Heat Moon's "Blue Highways." It's a road book about the high plains -- that semi-arid, often treeless region covering 10 states lying between the Rockies and the Mid-West. Rather than a day-by-day log of a single journey, it is an account of many trips, as its author criss-crosses the terrain, jumping from place to place and from one historical period to another. When you are done, you have a sense of a vast land and a great 200-year swath of history.

Fragments of times and places that we may know from movies and text books come together in a sweeping tapestry containing: Indian tribes, buffalo herds, cattle drives, railroads, homesteaders, droughts, blizzards, grasshoppers, long rivers, sand hills, badlands, small pox epidemics, black settlers, missile silos, strip mining, the Dust Bowl, the Ogalala aquifer, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Custer, Bonnie and Clyde, and the experience of driving a van along straight, empty highways in all weather, picking up hitchhikers, sleeping overnight by the road, and stopping to talk to ordinary people living extraordinary lives in a depopulated landscape most travelers know only as "flyover," that featureless land seen from above between East and West Coasts.

It's a great enjoyable read that meanders over its subject, sometimes with a sense of wonder, sadness, amusement, and even -- at a fashion show in Nicodemus, Kansas -- unadulterated joy!

This book is the best ever written on the Indian wars, and it shows the great stupidity of the idea that between the Civil War and Spanish-American War American soldiers were at peace. Nothing could have been further from the truth. "Scalp Dance" shows the gory, harrowing battles waged by handfuls of ill-equipped soldiers against some of the most barbaric opponents America has ever faced. Usually outnumbered and sometimes even despised by some of their own countrymen, these troops were the men who made the settling of the West a fact. Until now, their story and their sacrifices have been largely forgotten thanks to mountains of PC rhetoric. Now "Scalp Dance" has rectified that. Those who loved the movie "Dances With Wolves" should read this book of FACTUAL accounts of the Plains Wars for a no-holds-barred history lesson. "Scalp Dance" is bloody, suspenseful book that is all the more relevant because it's actual history.

This book is one of the best ever written on the Plains Wars, and it shows the great stupidity of the idea that between the Civil War and Spanish-American War American soldiers were at peace. Nothing could have been further from the truth. "Scalp Dance" shows the gory, harrowing battles waged by handfuls of ill-equipped soldiers against some of the most vicious opponents America has ever faced. Usually outnumbered and sometimes even despised by some of their own countrymen, these troops were the men who made the settling of the West a fact. Until now, their story and their sacrifices have been largely forgotten thanks to mountains of PC rhetoric. Now "Scalp Dance" has rectified that. Those who loved the movie "Dances With Wolves" should read this book of FACTUAL accounts of the Plains Wars for a no-holds-barred history lesson. "Scalp Dance" is bloody, suspenseful book that is all the more relevant because it's actual history.

This book is equal time. The author gives us a view of history few have courage to even mention these days. The battle for supremacy between the American Indian and the white settlers was bitter clash of cultures. This book declares the facts. Yes, both sides committed terrible inhumane atrocities, but some people made a genuine effort to understand and help the natives they considered savages in spite of the terrible killing. If you are looking for an alternative to the watered down history books you read in school about the Indian wars, this is it. The book contains actual narrative from soldiers and civilians that lived through the battles and encountered the horrible realities of torture, desecration of the dead, rape and kidnapping. And they are surprising lenient toward their enemies. If you're looking for another dry, boring account of the America west, this book is not for you. But if you're looking for something with a twist, read Scalp Dance.