In his Common & Contested Ground Ted Binnema fully describes the ecological reservoir that sustained the northern buffalo and was the focus of tribal subsistance. Here is a history of a neglected region that grows from the grassroots and hoof prints, set on a solid foundation and perceptively described. Breaking away from the river bound data of fur trade journalists, Binnema sets the record of the bands and traders properly ahorse and free to range the great adventures of the buffalo world.

As a scholar and researcher of the Northern Plains I can say without hesitation this is one of the best books to come out in years. Binnema has brought some fresh viewpoints to the complexity of northern plains history. It's refreshing to see new, good, work at a time when most authors are restating ideas that have been published to death.

Kit Fox visits a horse her tribe took from the snake indians(their enemy) in the mornings before everyone's awake. When she is found out she isnt allowed to visit the horse again. Then, when their enemy threatens to ambush her tribe, Kit Fox must race against time to get help.

Kit, a young Blackfoot girl, feels like she can't do anything because of the social taboos the tribe has for young women. When warriors bring back a horse, the first of its kind the tribe has ever had, driven by her curiosity she secretly visits the horse with the help of her friend and eventually learns how to ride it. Caught in the act she is banned from visiting the horse much less riding it. But when the tribe is in danger it is up to her to ride for help and defy all the rules.

I was a student of Harris Stone's for several classes during my career at KU's School of Architecture and Urban Design in the 1980's. The book "Dispersed City of the Plains" is just so very typical of Harris. Harris was one of the best Critics (that's the code word for Architecture Teacher, Professor, etc.) that I ever had. He was truely wise. Stone had a way of looking beyond what was fashionable to print in the Professional Journals to see the truth in the Architecture. Harris always taught us, as students in Kansas, to be proud of our herritage. He had the ability to see the art in what others disregarded as mundane and below their recognition. Harris was a proponent for the masses, the end users of Architecture. It didn't matter to him how great a building was proclaimed if it didn't serve it's purpose for it's users. Stone's books always remind us to design for the people, and the environment, not the Journals.

This is a challenging, original analysis of the meaning of the built environment of the Great Plains. The author begins much the way that Walter Prescott Webb did in his pioneering work on the same subject, by analyzing the building blocks that organize space and the economy of the region, in this instance grain elevators, barbed wire, and windmills. He then moves through types of housing, and communities from hamlet to major city.

Harris Stone's basic thesis is threefold: 1. The Great Plains experienced a fundamentally different pattern of settlement than the Eastern U.S., because the land was subdivided before settlers arrived; 2. European models of city form are not valid for analyzing the built environment of the Plains; 3. Instead, the settlement pattern of the Plains is a work in progress that anticipates the impact of today's information-age economy, and it should be evaluated accordingly.

The author's text is handwritten, with his own drawings illustrating his points. His ideas are spare and challenge the reader to participate and "fill in the blanks." His style is somewhat akin to the way Jane Jacobs analyzes city life, while his conclusions contrast dramatically with hers.

There is also a poignance that permeates the book, because Harris Stone was dying of cancer as he wrote it. Too weak to finish preparation of the text for publishing, his wife and colleagues at the University of Kansas School of Architecture completed the final few pages, in a different style of handwriting and illustration. One mourns the loss of so original a thinker, as one is simultaneously stimulated by his text.

Debra McArthur's book is well written and very well researched. She didn't just get her information from history books; she actually talked to people who lived through this trying time in American History.

The book was specifically written for an audience, ages 9-12, but I found it certainly held my interest. McArthur does not write down to her audience; she informs. Even though I was already somewhat familiar with this time period, she helped me see it through the eyes of the people who were there.

I was surprised, and pleased, that the people living through this stressful time made up jokes to ease their tension. ie. "Almost everyone heard about the farmer who was hit by a drop of rain and fainted from the shock. It took two buckets of sand thrown in his face to revive him" (54).

I am pleased to recommend this book for all ages.

Debra McArthur's book is very well written, and it certainly held my attention. Even though it is intended for readers in grade levels 9-12, readers of any age can enjoy learning about this trying time in the history of our country.

I found the quality of McArthur's research impressive. Her information didn't just come from history books. She talked to people who were there. Even though I was familiar with the story of the Dust Bowl, this book made me see it through the eyes of the people who lived it. I was amazed to find out that people actually made up jokes to help them cope. ie. "Why do crows fly backwards? Answer: To keep the dust out of their eyes."

I am happy to recommend this book to anyone, of any age.

Reading this book was a wonderful experience. What a touching story of a family that develops as all families do; realizing we love our family members even more when we accept them loving us the only way they know how. All this against the backdrop of a still unspoiled area of America. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this region, history or living.
Allen

People from the prairies of South Dakota and North Dakota aren't pretentious. Well, some might be, but they tend to stand out in miserable ways. Linda Hasselstrom's writing is like the people of her home: careful, persistent, simple, surprisingly complex, fascinating. Your own family and home may be very different from Hasselstrom's, but through her writing you'll gain a better understanding of your own people and place of origin. Hasselstrom is a master; she shows us how to cherish the tribes we were born into, despite the inevitable losses and disappointments of life. She ranks right up there with Kathleen Norris and Patricia Hampl.

Some time ago, I wrote a great review of this book, but I see that it's been removed for some reason. Nonetheless, I have to again state that this is an indispensible field guide and reference book for anyone who loves fishing and learning more about the natural histories of the freshwater fish in the central United States. Peterson, Golden, and Audubon guides cover all of North America which makes most of their books cumbersome and useless to those of us in the heartland, non-ocean states. The pictures are the most lifelike depictions of fish I've ever seen of any North American fish. It's also full of interesting tid bits of each fish species. Again, great book. It's in a class of its own.

This book is the best I have in my library. All the important information on fishes in the Missouri or Mississippi drainage are well covered. The color pencil drawings are flawless.

The powerful language and evocative illustrations draw the reader into this warm story about a Norwegian immigrant family in the Dakota Territory in the 1800s. Sonja's Mama sings away their troubles, but eventually the loneliness of the long winters on the prairie still her voice. Sonja longs for her Mama's singing and spirit to return, and the solution she discovers will delight readers young and old.

The Gift is author Marcia Freeman's poignant story of Sonja, a young Norwegian immigrant, and her family who carved out a new life for themselves in the Dakota frontier territory of the late 1800s. Beautifully enhanced with the artwork of Patrice Kennedy, the core of the story is how Sonja helps her mother to overcome the intense loneliness of prairie life. Strongly recommended for school and community library picturebook collections for children ages 5 to 9, The Gift is a wonderful story, deftly told and superbly illustrated.

This is one of my favorite books. I keep it on the coffee table and several of my guests agree and are also looking for a new edition to be printed.

What a fabulous book! Far from the names and dates and heroic men which bog down many western histories, this history chronicles the stomachs of the priests, soldiers, and homesteaders who were dreaming of fresh butter, unwormy flour, and other delectables while expanding the American frontier. Memorable photos include soldier's wives cooking in a tent to escape the desert heat, a Franciscan priest frying eggs under an umbrella, and a nice Mormon couple having tea on the prairie.

This book was a great help in my quest to acquire more information regarding the interaction between the Native American People and their horses. It is very difficult to find any information on this subject, let alone such specific information about the interaction between a particular tribe and their animals. I highly recommend this book. Now someone needs to do the same thing for the other Native American tribes.

I enjoy the authors convictions in preserving the Blackfoot Indian's knowledge of horsemenship. He provides an excellent review of early pre and post white contact and horse knowledge. Out of all the subjects I have studies within the field of Anthropology and the books I have read from archaeological subjects to cultural material of pre contact and paleoindians of the High Plains Ewer's book is by far the best I have studied. I would give my eye teeth to own a copy!!

Not only the most throughout chronicle of the sweat lodge ritual, but also one of the best books on contemporary Lakhota religion. Good work!

I read through this book in one day. I couldn't put the book down except to make a coffee. Excellent reading.