Author, Russell Freeman, writes an informational (nonfiction) book targeting grades 3 - 7 about the interdependence of the Plains Indian Tribes and the North American Bison. This book documents a way of life few non-Indian people were privileged to see. The bison shaped the culture of these tribes, the tribes usually killed only what they needed and used all parts of the animal. The various tribes of the plains husbanded the bison herds and the land on which they grazed to insure the survival of this essential source of food and shelter. The buffalo hunt was accompanied by supplication to the spirits and shaman of the tribes and was participated in by all, though only men killed buffalo. The job of others was to clean the kill and cure the meat and hides. The author describes more than one hunting technique. Also, he explains how the Indians developed into skillful horsemen as they evolved from hunting on foot to the use of wild horses.

The slaughter of bison populations as whites encroached upon and gradually took over Indian lands resulted in the end of a way of life and the near annihilation of the Plains Indian Tribes in the 50+ years from around 1830 to 1888.

The book is illustrated with reproductions of original paintings and drawings of the period by artists such as George Catlin and Karl Bodmer who were adventurer-artists traveling alone, or nearly so, through regions that only a few fur trappers and traders had seen before this time.

Freeman has crafted a book with a balanced combination of illustration and information. His book would surpass the most rigorous standards for great nonfiction. It presents information objectively and without bias or opinion and uses beautiful works of art for illustration - the art of both the white and the Indian, from the period under scrutiny. It explains a way of life that has been lost yet does not belabor the point, marginalize the people, or sentimentalize the topic. I would recommend this book highly. It could be used for art projects in schools as well as for factual writing assignments. The author has written other respected informational books for children, e.g., Lincoln: A photobiography, and another about the Wright brothers.

I like this book because it is a catching book and I learnt alot from it.

This book is so good that it made me want to buy the whole series of the Spanish Bit. It was the first of many books of the Spanish Bit that I read. They are all great. The struggle they over come in the book will want you aching for more.

This book features photos of gorgeous Colorado gardens and interesting information about how each gardener planned, prepared, planted, etc. their garden. It has given me many ideas for my own flower garden, and it would make an ideal gift for any Colorado gardener -- or for anyone who is interested in how our gardening is different from other parts of the country.

From the front cover: "[The book] features seventy-two gardens singled out for their beauty and adherence to plants indicative of their area. ...Proctor's striking images depict the serenity and charm inherent in each garden...Geargia Garnsey, a Denver-based writer, provides lively profiles of each garden and the gardener who tends it."

The majority of Marshall's books are written after interviewing soldiers who just got out of combat. He served as an official historian for the Pacific and European Theaters of Operations in World War II, Korea, and went to Vietnam as both an observer and an advisor. For obvious reasons, he could not question veterans of the Great Plaines Indian Wars. This book, therefore, is somewhat of a departure for Marshall.

The main purpose of "Crimson Prairie" is to show what tactic worked and which did not. Discussing several battles, Marshall demonstrates that the United States Army was not prepared to engage in the gorilla-like fighting that the specialty of Native-Americans. Indeed, he shows that the white soldiers failed time and again in the face of superior tactics because they constantly underestimated their opponents and their training had not prepared them for fighting Native-Americans.

Another aspect of "Crimson Prairie" concerns the idea that the white people were the sole aggressor in the Indian Wars. Marshall demonstrates that on a number of occasions Native-Americans acted as savagely and aggressively against non-threatening outposts. The author shows that the bloodshed was not as one-sided as many people believe. Marshall does not support or side with either side. Instead he uses an analytic and objective style that shows that both sides committed atrocities, although the Americans proved more aggressive and their abhorrent actions proved far more brutal than the Native-American's.

For those who enjoy Marshall's work, this book is a must have. His expertise in dissecting operations is apparent throughout the pages and his prose, as always, is impeccable.

Very fine interweaving of children & elders voices & ideas in Crow Indian homelands. This is just one in a new six-book-series that will thrill young readers & take them on a special journey into Indian America. Careful respectful information has been chosen to help illustrate our differences & similarities. This is charming!

This is an excellent book on the subject of Native Americans. This book is filled with beautiful photographs and significant qoutes from various Native Americans, as well as brief descriptions of Native American history up to the present day. There is a very strong emphasis on various religious ceremonies such as the Sweat Lodge and Visionquest. Certain groups, namely the Sioux, Navajo (Dine) and Pueblos, are focused in on. All in all, however, this is an excellent book, more emotional and intuitive than anything else. Hopefully you'll be as moved by it as I was.

This book weaves a wonderful web of a Lakota oral tradition along side a capivating hero. It was so absorbing that I felt as if I faced the characters obstacles along side him.

If the purpose of regional studies is to arrive at an understanding of the character of the people of an area, and how that character is reflected in the material constructions of those people, then Isern has it nailed. Among the fascinating range of issues pertaining to Dakota culture that he discusses is how the creative/artistic impulse of a people is sometimes found in the mundane.
For many Dakotans, whose lives are shaped by a pioneer inheritance, whose forebear's lives were hard and economic existence precarious, 'art for art sake' just doesn't seem right. The inherent desire for artistic expression sometimes found, and finds, its outlet in the practical, such as in the design and construction of barns, calf feeders or windmills.
For many Dakotans, huge roadside monuments, like the world's biggest buffalo, pheasant, dairy cow, etc., would be hard to appreciate if they were 'merely' artistic expressions. They would probably be seen by most of us as monuments to someone's ego. But done for a bigger purpose, such as for the benefit of the artist/creator's community, it is much easier to appreciate. But that's this Dakotan's view.
Most interesting of all is Isern's reflection on the desire of many here to create a mythology of our own. Hence the tales of the Welsh among the Mandan, or the Vikings along the James River, as well as our desire to believe these tales. (They're called tales only because they haven't been proven. Yet.)
In the end, a study of regional culture tells us something about what is intrinsic to the whole of humanity. It's rare to come upon a regional study that is genuinely wide ranging. Rarer still to come upon one that is free of the pedantic stuffiness that is found in so many other regional studies. For locals, this is an 'ah-hah' book. Isern's got us down cold. And coming from the Dakotas, that's saying something.

My son and I loved this book. It is a touching story of a young couple, with a great take home message at the end. After reading it I was able to tell my son about my great grandfather living in a dugout when he came over from Germany.