WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Creative NonfictionFinalist, Evans Handcart AwardIn the middle of the Great Depression, Montana native Julia Bennett arrived in New York City with no money and an audacious business plan: to identify and visit easterners who could afford to spend their summers at her brand new dude ranch near Ennis, Montana. Julia, a big-game hunter whom friends described as “a clever shot with both rifle and shotgun,” flouted gender conventions to build gues...

In the middle of the Great Depression, Montana native Julia Bennett arrived in New York City with no money and an audacious business plan: to identify and visit easterners who could afford to spend their summers at her brand new dude ranch near Ennis, Montana. Julia, a big-game hunter whom friends described as “a clever shot with both rifle and shotgun,” flouted gender conventions to build guest ranches in Montana and Arizona that attracted world-renowned entertainers and artists.B...

In Writings to Young Women on Laura Ingalls Wilder: As Told by Her Family, Friends, and Neighbors, we see Laura through the eyes of those who knew her best. They tell of her insatiable love for reading and learning new things, her reactions to the fame from her best-selling children's series, and even which book she considered her favorite.

New York Times Bestseller: "Wilder's letters display a writer who kept her head amid growing fame, remaining sweet, down-to-earth, and immensely likable." — Publishers WeeklyAvailable for the first time, these letters of one of America's most beloved authors are a treasure trove that offers new and unexpected understanding of her life and work. The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder is a vibrant, deeply personal portrait of this reve...

This book restores a little-known advocate of Indian rights to her place in history. In June 1889, a widowed Brooklyn artist named Catherine Weldon traveled to the Standing Rock Reservation in Dakota Territory to help Sitting Bull hold onto land that the government was trying to wrest from his people. Since the Sioux chieftain could neither read nor write English, he welcomed the white woman's offer to act as his secretary and lobbyist. Her efforts were counterproductive; she was ordered ...

Overnight settlements, better known as "Hell on Wheels," sprang up as the transcontinental railroad crossed Nebraska and Wyoming. They brought opportunity not only for legitimate business but also for gamblers, land speculators, prostitutes, and thugs. Dick Kreck tells their stories along with the heroic individuals who managed, finally, to create permanent towns in the interior West.

A short memoir of Calamity Jane. The Autobiography of Calamity Jane also Martha Canary.Always on the move across the northern plains, Calamity Jane was more camp follower than a scout. A mother of two, she found employment as waitress, laundress, or dance hall girl and was more likely to be wearing a dress than buckskin. She was hard to ignore after a few drinks, and she exploited the aura of fame that dime novels created around her, even selling her autobiography and photos to tou...

This edition in the American Trails Revisited series explores the Oregon Trail through Wyoming. The route of the southern Cherokee Trail route along U.S. Highway 30, the main Oregon-California-Mormon Emigrant Road entering the state on U.S. Highway 26, as well as the side routes of the California-Mormon Trail through Fort Bridger and the Lander Cut-Off through the Thompson Pass, are explored in this guide. Over 300 historic sites and points of interest are documented, with detailed driving...

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic novel The Long Winter tells the riveting story of the winter of 1880-81. She wrote of three day blizzards, forty ton trains stuck in the snow, houses buried in snowdrifts and a town that nearly starved.Was Laura’s story just fiction, or was that one winter stranger than fiction? Was that winter really that bad, or was it just a typical old time winter stretched a bit to make a good tale?Author Dan L. White examines the reality of the ...

This edition in the Historical Cities series explores the history and historic places of Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. Over 80 points of interest are presented, with reference maps to assist navigation and GPS coordinates for all listed sites. Also included are sites in Independence, Missouri and Shawnee, Kansas.

The presence of the once-powerful Cherokees is still evident throughout the southeastern United States in names like Chickamauga, Hiwassee, Chattahoochee, Unicoi, Oconee, and Tuscaloosa. For those interested in learning more about the rich heritage of the Cherokees by visiting their historic sites, the second edition of Vicki Rozema’s Footsteps of the Cherokees: A Guide to the Eastern Homelands of the Cherokee Nation is an excellent guide.In the early 1800s, the Cherokee N...

Based on the popular Lost In Michigan website that was featured in the Detroit Free Press, It contains locations throughout Michigan, and tells their interesting story. Whether you’re a long time Michigander, or new to the “Mitten State” there are over 50 stories and locations that you will find fascinating. After reading this book, you're going to want to take a road trip in your car, and get “Lost In Michigan.”