In March 1857, Inkpaduat and his band of Native Americans attacked several frontier Iowa and Minnesota settles leaving some forty dead and taking four young women captive. Rumors spread rapidly about the event. The U.S. Amry from Fort Ridgely and citizen militia rom Fort Dodge and Webster City, Iowa, and form New Ulm, Mandato, St. Peter, and Traverse des Sioux, Minnesota, marched through snowdrifts and spring floods to provide assistance to the survivors of the raid. Rescue of the captives and punishment of the renegades became a top priority of the government. Legends, Letters And Lies: Readings On The Spirit Lake Massacre Of 1857 includes readings from all facets of the event including military reports, contemporary newspaper accounts from the area (and from the East Coast), reports from the missionaries who helped rescue the captives, first person stories of the burial parties and more. Also included are lists of those involved including the militias and the U.S. Army unit, the Native Americans who went in search of Inkpaduta and his band, and the claims filed to recover losses resulting from the event. Highly recommended for students of Native American studies, as well as Iowa and Minnesota frontier history, Legends, Letters And Lies is a superb example of regional frontier history and is enhanced for the reader with maps, illustrations, a bibliography, and an index.

James Willert writes with the perspective of a historian....no opinions and no drama. His writing respects the intelligence of the reader. His bibliography is an excellent resource for both historians of the Indian Wars and family tree researchers who suspect ancestral involvement in the Indian Wars

I am a Cree pipe carrier and I am so grateful for the gentle flowing words of prayer. Truly a humble man has written such a book of honoring the grandfathers as well as the words of the people whom he met. Kind and wonderous in its bringing together of Aboriginal and Christian beliefs as our path to one creator are meant to be.

This is a fabulous ending to the triology on Thorliff. Although I might have been rooting for another ending (Anji, why'd you marry that other guy!) this one still won me over. The book made me cry, laugh and share it with all my friends! I can't wait to go back to Blessing later, I have completely fallen in love with all the characters.

This book is an outstanding example of life in the west. The stories make the characters come alive, and makes you wish you had been there.

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.

Great book that helps anyone in law enforcement. A carry along "bible" that can help whenever you need it.

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.

This book brings the story of the prairie woman settler to life in vivid detail. The pictures are great, and even humorous at times. My favorite - the woman sewing her child's ripped shorts as he rests on her knees.
The text catches the readers imagination and pulls them into the North Dakota frontier era with excerpts from historical diaries and documents. Wonderful book if you love the history of settling America, or are just looking for an interesting read.

This anthology of fiction and poetry by authors with North Dakota connections is essential to anyone with an interest in North Dakota. It's also a wonderful excursion for anyone; the stories and poems express the diversity of life in one of our more interesting--and least understood--states. There is history, geography, love, grief, anger, passion, and faith in these pages--a mix of strong voices exploring issues of home, land, kin, and "the other," as well as a host of other themes.

Authors include Roland Flint, Louise Erdrich, Jon Hassler, Louis L'Amour, Thomas McGrath, Kathleen Norris, Antony Oldknow, Mark Vinz, Larry Watson, and Larry Woiwode, as well as many other other fine, less famous writers.

The beautiful introduction by Martha Meek (who edited this collection with her husband, poet/editor Jay Meek) is alone worth the price of the book. It's a moving introduction to a collection that truly captures the North Dakota environment.