South Dakota State Historical Society – förlag

Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867?1957) finished her autobiography, Pioneer Girl, in 1930 when she was sixty-three years old. Throughout the 1930s and into the early 1940s, she drew upon her original manuscript to write a successful series of books for young readers. Wilder’s vision of life on the American frontier in the last half of the nineteenth century continues to draw new generations of readers to her Little House books. Editor Nancy Tystad Koupal has collected essays from noted scholars of Wilder’s life and work that explore the themes and genesis of Wilder’s writings. Pioneer Girl Perspectives sheds new light on the story behind Wilder’s original manuscript and examines the ways in which the author and her daughter and editor, Rose Wilder Lane, worked to develop a marketable narrative. The essay contributors delve into the myths and realities of Wilder’s work to discover the real lives of frontier children, the influence of time and place on both Wilder and Lane, and the role of folklore in the Little House novels. Together, the essays give readers a deeper understanding of how Wilder built and managed her story. Published over eighty years after its inception, Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography edited by Pamela Smith Hill gave readers new insight into the truth behind Wilder’s fiction. Pioneer Girl Perspectives further demonstrates the importance of Wilder as an influential American author whose stories of growing up on the frontier remain relevant today.

When Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote her autobiography, Pioneer Girl, she had no idea that children across the United States would be reading about and falling in love with Laura Ingalls and her family just two years later. Pioneer Girl: The Path into Fiction traces the evolution of Wilder's matter-of-fact memoir of her girlhood in Wisconsin into a bestselling novel for children. Along the way, editor Nancy Tystad Koupal discloses previously unknown aspects of this story as she examines the various drafts of Little House in the Big Woods.The third volume in the Pioneer Girl Project series, Pioneer Girl: The Path into Fiction follows Wilder as she steps away from autobiography and into the world of fiction. Wilder handed her memoir over to her daughter, novelist and journalist Rose Wilder Lane, for editing, but when the revised versions of Pioneer Girl failed to attract a publisher, Lane reframed the Wisconsin portion of her mother's autobiography as juvenile fiction. The resulting twenty-one-page picture-book manuscript, ""When Grandma Was a Little Girl,"" featured Pa's well-honed tales told within the cozy Ingalls home in 1870s Wisconsin. This manuscript captured the attention of a New York publisher, who wanted more words--15,000 more words--about pioneer life for readers aged eight to ten. Accepting the challenge, Wilder returned to Pioneer Girl for additional material. As she wrote, she created multiple drafts and a completed manuscript for Lane to edit and type. Collecting all the unpublished drafts in Pioneer Girl: The Path into Fiction, editor Koupal documents Wilder's process and explores the roles of authors, editors, and agents in the crafting of children's fiction.Koupal reveals that as Wilder continued down the path, she came to understand that writing novels freed her to restructure events, create stronger, combined characters, and fit truth into the space between fact and fiction. The succession of manuscript drafts that paved the way from the original Pioneer Girl to the publication of Little House in the Big Woods reveals the strengths of Wilder as an author and Lane as an editor and agent. The relationship brought forth the best efforts of both women and created a childhood classic.

From military expeditions to gold mining boomtowns, outlandish business ventures to stunning national parks, the Black Hills teem with history as rich as their natural beauty. Inspired by field trips that he organized at Black Hills State University, David A. Wolff has distilled decades of experience exploring, researching, and teaching the history of this majestic region into accessible and informative self-guided tours. Thousands of gold miners hoped to make their fortunes in the Black Hills, but only a handful of mines carried such riches. Peerless among them was the Homestake, which became one of the largest gold mines in the world. On the Narrow Gauge and Beyond details the impact that the Homestake, the railroads, the timber companies, Fort Meade, and other crucial enterprises had on the Northern Black Hills. Featuring maps by the South Dakota Department of Transportation and dozens of photographs, Wolff’s historical synopsis provides just the right amount of context for each site on the route, along with precise mileage and directions. By tour’s end, you will have completed a mini-course in Black Hills history!

Pioneer rancher W. H. Hamilton met the challenges of wolves, mosquitoes, and sticky, sometimes impassable soil, called “gumbo” in Harding and Butte counties in the 1880s and 1890s. A trailblazer in the transition from the open range to the small ranch, he loved the cowboy life and the wild country between his Belle Fourche River homestead and his Cave Hills ranch. In a new introduction, historian Thomas D. Isern familiarizes modern readers with the range-cattle industry and northwestern South Dakota landscape.

History of South Dakota is widely recognized as the definitive history of the state. Beginning with the earliest American Indian settlers, Herbert S. Schell traces the history of this region midway between the Midwest and the West. This classic account provides a picture of South Dakota’s political, economic, social, and environmental history, identifying the local, regional, national, and global forces that shaped the fortieth state through World War II. John E. Miller picks up the story at the beginning of the Cold War and chronicles the rest of the twentieth century. From the interaction of its native inhabitants with its newer visitors and residents, including fur traders, gold miners, homesteaders, and cattlemen, to the development of its political systems, the state’s rich heritage is captured here. By placing the opportunities and challenges of the last century - rural electrification, interstate highways, agricultural consolidation, ongoing dialogues among American Indians and non-Indians - in context, Miller contends that the state’s citizens will be better able to forge its future in the new millennium.

One of the most significant political figures in America, George McGovern has earned respect worldwide. Born and raised in South Dakota, McGovern developed there the strong moral convictions that have made him a political legend. These nine essays explore the triumphs and struggles that shaped this extraordinary man and provide new and valuable insights into his career and legacy of public service. From his World War II experiences in the U.S. Army Air Forces to his 1972 presidential campaign and his contributions as a global ambassador on hunger, McGovern played a powerful role in American history and politics during the twentieth century. He worked to revitalize the Democratic Party at the state and national levels. He gave voice to American war protests during the Vietnam era and led the Middle East Policy Council. McGovern served as the founding director of Food for Peace during the Kennedy Administration and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000.Contributors include Gary Aguiar, Ahrar Ahmad, Thomas J. Knock, Laurie Langland, Valerie R. O’Regan, Jon D. Schaff, Donald C. Simmons, Jr., Stephen J. Stambough, Michael J. C. Taylor, Stephen K. Ward, and Russell E. Willis.

From successful well-driller to governor and United States senator, Peter Norbeck (1870–1936) worked tirelessly for South Dakota. A progressive Republican, strong supporter of the policies of Theodore Roosevelt, and early conservationist, he was a towering figure in state politics. In Peter Norbeck: Prairie Statesman, Gilbert Fite has written his definitive biography, and through the generous support of the Meierhenry family, it is again available, with a new introduction, afterword, and photographs. Norbeck was a man of many interests, but his first concern was the farmer. As a supporter of state-owned industries and a leader in national agricultural legislation, he worked diligently for the benefit of rural residents. He also helped obtain funding for the carving of Mount Rushmore and directed construction of the scenic Iron Mountain Road leading to the monument. Through his efforts, legislation establishing Grand Teton National Park and extending the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park, as well as the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929, became law.

A prowling wildcat finds a surprise in an old dried-up buffalo skull. A group of mice are dancing the night away and not paying attention to the dagers around them. Does the wildcat spell doom for the mice, or will they escape to safety? Dance in a Buffalo Skull is an American Indain tale of danger and survival on the Great Plains.

These thirteen essays, taken from the pages of South Dakota History, the quarterly journal of the South Dakota State Historical Society, explore modern American Indian political and cultural life. In five themed sections, contributors examine the tremendous changes the Sioux experienced during the twentieth century. The political and social ramifications of land heirship, the damming of the Missouri River, and shifting federal policies are among topics discussed. Health care, recreation, and education are viewed through the windows of a psychiatric facility, reservation rodeos, and the experiences of a day-school teacher. The tumultuous build-up to the violence at Wounded Knee in 1973 is covered as well, along with issues surrounding land allotment and efforts to eradicate tuberculosis. Editor Richmond L. Clow contributes an introduction and afterword providing context for the essays and suggesting avenues for further study.Contributors: Harry H. Anderson, Roger Bromert, Richmond L. Clow, Joshua Garrett-Davis, Frederick E. Hoxie, Michael L. Lawson, Allison Fuss Mellis, Akim D. Reinhardt, Scott Riney, Steven C. Schulte, Don Southerton, Laura Woodworth-Ney.

In Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer's Life, Pamela Smith Hill delves into the complex and often fascinating relationships Wilder formed throughout her life that led to the writing of her classic Little House series. Using Wilder's stories, personal correspondence, an unpublished autobiography, and experiences in South Dakota, Hill has produced a historical-literary biography of the famous and much-loved author. Following the course of Wilder's life, and her real family's journey west, Hill provides a context, both familial and literary, for Wilder's writing career. Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer's Life is the first book in the South Dakota Biography Series, which highlights some of the state's most famous residents.

The 1944 Pick-Sloan Plan created a wealth of economic opportunities for the states lying along the Missouri River. But the plan also flooded more than two hundred thousand acres of bottomlands that helped to sustain the Sioux and forced the relocation of whole communities. Dammed Indians Revisited examines how the work of the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation affected the communities along the river, demonstrating the unequal relationships between the tribes and the federal government. Lawson has unearthed new information, revising his original work to bring the story up-to-date. While the flooding occurred more than sixty years ago, the impact of the plan and its ramifications for continuing tribal-federal relations remain wholly relevant in the twenty-first century.

Much of Seth Bullock’s modern renown comes from television, motion pictures, and his friendship with President Theodore Roosevelt. But Bullock was much more than the frontier law enforcer portrayed in fictional accounts. In Seth Bullock: Black Hills Lawman, David Wolff examines the life work of Bullock as he helped build Deadwood, found the town of Belle Fourche, and promote the Black Hills. Wolff explores the many ventures that Bullock delved into once he moved from Montana to the Black Hills at the start of the gold rush in 1876. He points out that Bullock quickly became an integral part of the burgeoning community, attempting to create a lasting legacy for himself by working within local and regional politics, through his various businesses, and in his many positions at the forefront of Black Hills law enforcement and forest management. Bullock’s life epitomized that of many entrepreneurs and pioneers across the nation, and Wolff describes the struggles and successes that this thinker and dreamer experienced in his forty-three years in the Black Hills. Seth Bullock: Black Hills Lawman is the third book in the South Dakota Biography Series, which highlights some of the state’s most famous residents.

After the Great Spirits created the world, the Trickster fooled the Pte Oyate (Buffalo Nation) into leaving the Underworld. They became the Ordinary People and needed help to survive. Tatanka, the holy man, turned himself into a Buffalo and sacrificed his powers for the people. With all that Tatanka provided, the Ordinary - or Lakota - People adapted to the earth around them and prospered. The transformation of the Buffalo Nation into the Ordinary People and their salvation by Tatanka comes from the traditional creation story of the Lakota, or Sioux, Indians. Donald F. Montileaux's beautiful paintings offer dramatic colors and forms to this story of beginnings.

After his surrender at Fort Buford in what is now North Dakota, the United States Army transported Sitting Bull and his followers down the Missouri River to Fort Randall, roughly seventy miles west of Yankton. There the famed Hunkpapa leader remained for twenty-two months, until September 1883.During that year and a half, Sitting Bull conducted tribal business, met with dignitaries and visitors, and interacted with those who imprisoned him. Dennis Pope has written a dramatic account of that time and those relationships, taking the reader inside Sitting Bull's camp to see the day-to-day reality of captive life for this powerful man and his people. Pope paints an insider's view of the events of these months, using extensive research, primary accounts from eye-witnesses, and the observations and writings of a reporter from the Saint Paul and Minneapolis Pioneer Press. The combination of sources presents an almost minute-by-minute description, intimately depicting the great chief's character, beliefs, and thought processes.Sitting Bull, Prisoner of War fills a gap in the great chief's story, allowing readers to explore a previously little-known episode of his life.

Following Sitting Bull's surrender to the United States Army in 1881, the Indian Division of the United States Census Office conducted a full and detailed census of the Sioux Indians at Standing Rock Indian Agency in central Dakota Territory. This census is the most complete and accurate account of Sitting Bull's followers and, until Ephriam Dickson III compiled this important work, the information contained within its pages had been hidden in archives beyond the reach of most researchers. Dickson's book provides researchers and historians with an unrivalled resource with which to assess and analyze this group of American Indians. In The Sitting Bull Surrender Census, Dickson has taken one of the total thirty-three different lists of Lakota families, with support from oral histories, and provided insight into the composition of community or tiyospaye at Standing Rock, as Lakotas shifted from their traditional buffalo-hunting ways to their new sedentary life on the reservation. The Sitting Bull Surrender Census preserves the earliest detailed enumeration of every Lakota man, woman, and child at the agency at a critical juncture in Lakota history, just as the last of the non-treaty bands under Sitting Bull returned from Canada and joined their relatives at Standing Rock. Viewed within the context of Standing Rock's rich documentary sources, Sitting Bull Surrender Census offers a remarkable snapshot of Lakota families and communities.

Pickup trucks and eagles, yellow school buses and painted horses, Mother Earth and Sister Meadowlark all join together to greet the dawn. They marvel at the colours and sounds, smells and memories that dawn creates. Animals and humans alike turn their faces upwards and gaze as the sun makes its daily journey from horizon to horizon. Dawn is a time to celebrate with a smiling heart, to start a new day in the right way, excited for what might come. Birds sing and dance, children rush to learn, dewdrops glisten from leaves, and gradually the sun warms us. Each time the sun starts a new circle, we can start again as well. All these things are part of the Lakota way, a means of living in balance. S. D. Nelson offers young readers wonder and happiness as a better way of appreciating their culture and surroundings. He draws inspiration from traditional stories to create Greet the Dawn. His artwork fuses elements of modern with traditional. Above all, he urges each of us to seize the opportunity that dawn offers each day.

As a prominent leader of the Sicangu Lakotas during a time of conflict and change, Spotted Tail (1823–1881) left his mark on the Northern Great Plains. He was not a hereditary chief but developed his standing over time, first proving himself a capable warrior and later a persuasive negotiator. As white settlers encroached on Indian lands in ever-greater numbers, Spotted Tail decided to forgo engaging in prolonged conflicts with the United States, including those led by Red Cloud and Crazy Horse. Instead, he determined to negotiate with the United States to secure a homeland, education, employment, and other necessities essential to the future of his people. Had Spotted Tail chosen to fight, Captain John G. Bourke wrote in 1891, “neither North nor South Dakota, Wyoming nor Montana might now be on the map.”Not all Lakotas agreed with his philosophy, and his tactics, heavy-handed at times, earned him enemies. On 5 August 1881, Crow Dog, a fellow Sicangu leader on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, shot and killed Spotted Tail, ending years of rivalry. Even in death, Spotted Tail continued to have an impact as Crow Dog’s conviction for his murder made its way to the United States Supreme Court, ultimately impacting tribal sovereignty.  In the first full biography of Spotted Tail since the 1960s, Richmond L. Clow uses firsthand accounts from tribal and nontribal sources, government records, and published works to establish Spotted Tail as both a warrior and a statesman. The author’s voluminous research into contemporary news accounts, including interviews with Spotted Tail, provides a wealth of information about his views and actions that, until now, have been remarkably underutilised.

In his homage to the infinite west that is South Dakota, both past and present, Englishman Fraser Harrison tours well-known locations such as the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and Deadwood. But there is far more to South Dakota, and the author also spent time in less-travelled areas such as Wounded Knee, the southern portion of the Missouri River, and Harrison, his namesake town. The author’s witty, conversational, and detailed commentaries are paired with brief historical accounts to form a travel memoir comparable to those of Bill Bryson, Dayton Duncan, and Paul Theroux. Harrison paints pictures with his prose that let the reader share his experiences on the roads, in the cities, and among the people of small communities that make up the Land of Infinite Variety.

At a time when values of frugality, home, family, and care of the land seem increasingly absent, one woman looks to her past to create a life of significance for her family. Her search takes her back to the prairie of her grandmothers, who survived personal hardships and lived off what the land provided. Lipp-Acord mourns the loss of one child and celebrates the births of others, all while balancing her own desire to put down roots with her husband’s life as a ranch hand. Written over ten years, these essays compose a picture of endurance and grace as the author addresses her history and finds her way home.

South Dakota is often thought of as a conservative or “red” state, but its political culture is much more variegated and unpredictable than such colour-coded references might imply. Just as the nation as a whole consists of diverse regions and subcultures that manifest fairly wide swings of opinion and voting patterns over time, South Dakota contains its own geographic variations and political subcultures. The first volume illustrated the complex nature of state politics and cyclical change over time, and this new group of essays concentrates on some of the unpredictability and contradictoriness of the state and its citizens. Editors Jon K. Lauck, John E. Miller, and Donald C. Simmons, Jr., have brought together ten essays on a diverse number of topics to consider the state’s underlying political culture. Contributors deliberate over such topics as the influence of political organisations, conservatism, patriotism, leadership, local and national political culture, people’s movements, and cowboy politics in an effort to develop a fuller sense of where South Dakota fits into the growing study of modern political culture.

Drawing inspiration from Standing Bear’s legacy, Amiotte uses ephemera, historical and modern photographs and artworks, and the remembered stories of his relatives to compose collages that tell the story of a culture and people in transition. The vivid juxtaposition of materials allows viewers to experience the nuances and fluctuations in the Lakota people’s environment, values, and way of life. Louis S. Warren relates the life of Standing Bear in a brief biography, and Janet Catherine Berlo contributes an essay placing Amiotte’s collages in their artistic and anthropological contexts.

Cutting-edge and sometimes controversial, the stunning art of Paul Goble (b. 1933) evokes many emotions. Known internationally for his award-winning children’s books, Goble began his career in design, crafting furniture that was produced throughout the United Kingdom. This early work foreshadowed his use of clean, crisp lines in his later illustrations depicting the natural world and American Indian themes. Throughout his life, Goble has steeped himself in nature, honing his craft among the pine trees of South Dakota’s Black Hills for the past forty years. Starting in 1969, Goble used his art to relate little-known stories of the Lakota Sioux and other tribes to a wider audience. He received the Caldecott Medal for The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses in 1979. In Paul Goble, Storyteller, author Gregory Bryan interviewed Goble, his family, friends, and those whose work he influenced to tell the artist’s story. Bryan captures an intriguing life that few Americans are familiar with, including Goble’s childhood in wartime England. Building on this foundation, Bryan’s narrative follows the young boy as his penchant for learning led him to a lifelong fascination with the lives and cultures of American Indians on the Great Plains.Bryan delivers an insightful, behind-the-scenes look at this well-known illustrator and writer, whose artwork is located in collections and institutions throughout the country, including the Library of Congress and the South Dakota Art Museum. Goble has written and illustrated more than forty books for children. The book features sketches and stories about Goble’s creative process in writing, designing, and illustrating his bestselling works.

A secret bombing mission, a crash-landing, a bold escape—far from the plains of his homeland, World War II pilot Donald G. (“Don”) Smith swam toward unknown terrain, having just played a significant role in the legendary American military venture, the Doolittle Raid.Commanding Plane Fifteen, a B-25 nicknamed TNT, the twenty-four-year-old Smith successfully led his squad to their target in Japan and, after a watery landing, to safety through Japanese-occupied territory in China. Seven months after the Doolittle Raid, Smith died when his new bomber crashed during a routine exercise over the English countryside. He left behind a family and a community that had, only months before, welcomed him home during a brief reprieve from fighting. In his short life, Smith made an indelible impression on those who served with him, but he left behind no personal recollections of his experience. Until now, his story was known only to a close few, surviving through the frequent letters he wrote home to his parents in Belle Fourche, South Dakota.Author Paul Higbee follows Smith from his childhood through college, flight training, and Army Air Corps service, highlighting the young man’s transformation from South Dakota boy to American hero. Higbee reveals the excitement, danger, and pride of the eighty men who took part in the first American attack on Japan and the uncertainty of life in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. Smith’s story reflects lives forever altered by wartime experiences, whether on land or in the air.

“Few geographic locations in the West exhibit a greater concentration of sites of . . . historic fur- and Indian-trade establishments, or one covering a longer time span, than that of the junction of the Bad and the Missouri Rivers.” — G. Hubert SmithNo other part of the West saw such a succession of trading posts as did the heart of modern-day South Dakota, where the Bad River meets the Missouri near the contemporary town of Fort Pierre. Various firms established posts here starting in 1817. Two of these posts, Fort Tecumseh (1822) and Fort Pierre Chouteau (1832), reached their golden age under the American Fur Company in the 1830s and 1840s. While company employees recorded daily activities in journals, they relayed company business as well as personal information about the individuals at the post in letter books. Letter books, which contained copies of all outgoing correspondence, were once common items at all posts on the upper Missouri, but only a few survive today. Those that do vividly illustrate the nature of commerce on the Northern Great Plains during the first half of the nineteenth century. Editors Michael M. Casler and W. Raymond Wood transcribed and annotated these rare documents, including some translated from the original French. Known for over a century, the Fort Tecumseh journal and the letter books from Fort Tecumseh and Fort Pierre Chouteau are published here in their entirety for the first time.

Perfect Reading for Ages Five and UpTHUMP! BOOM! BAM!Animals stop and listen. A new sound is in the forest. The beat vibrates through the trees and across the meadows. What is it? Where is it coming from? Muskrat and Skunk thump on a hollow log—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Birds begin to dance. Buffalo and Antelope join in. There is a rustle in the bushes; a large shape emerges. The animals scatter. Muskrat and Skunk drum on.The story of the drum connects the instrument’s sound to the heartbeat of Mother Earth—a beat inside all of us. For the Lakota people, the drum is more than something to be played. Its rhythm is felt, and it is central to many ceremonies.Donald F. Montileaux retells the origins of the drum, using traditional stories that Lakota people still tell today. His colorful images breathe life into Muskrat and Skunk, enhancing our understanding of the Lakota culture.

Not all politics is party politics. Nowhere is this fact more apparent than within the boundaries of South Dakota. Although the state is known for its agrarian conservatism, political tradition in the land of infinite variety is more than simply Republican or Democrat. An awareness of the influence of culture lies at the core of understanding the decisions of political leaders and voters alike.In this capstone volume of The Plains Political Tradition series, editors Jon K. Lauck, John E. Miller, and Paula M. Nelson gather essays from historians and other scholars who identify major influences on the political culture of South Dakota. Against a backdrop of agricultural ups and downs, varied religious beliefs, worldwide conflict, and powerful personalities, the authors examine ingredients critical to the success and failure of civic movements, legislation, and political campaigns and careers.

Romanticized scenes of heroic soldiers fighting on the vast plains are strewn throughout early chronicles of the old frontier army. Such interpretations rarely convey the complex truth or reality of the day-to-day existence of the soldiers or of the American Indians on whose land the battles took place.As new documents surface, coupled with increased digital access for scholars, in-depth examinations of the army’s role during this time in United States history are moving forward. Under the direction of editor R. Eli Paul, contributors to this book present new primary sources and fresh interpretations of the Regular Army in the West in fitting tribute to the careers of Thomas R. Buecker and John D. (“Jack”) McDermott.Centering on military conflicts and postings around present-day South Dakota and in the Black Hills between 1854 and 1890, the contributors highlight the diverse experiences of those associated with the American frontier army and the people they fought on the Great Plains. Observations formed by studying personal letters, recorded memories, and contemporary monuments provide an analysis of how the army and its soldiers are remembered today. Firsthand accounts give previously ignored groups a voice, and readers learn more about lesser-known actors—foot soldiers, minorities, and others on the periphery of popular history. Individually, the essays bring much needed context to this era; together, they present a more complete picture of those confronted with and involved in the nineteenth-century mission of expansion and control.

On 25 June 1876, a combined force of Lakotas and Northern Cheyennes defeated the troops of the Seventh United States Cavalry Regiment on the bluffs overlooking the Little Big Horn River in Montana. This disaster for the United States Army resulted in the deaths of 267 cavalrymen, including their famed commander, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.Since his demise at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Custer has been a symbol for the federal government's bloody conquest of the Great Plains. Custer's military career, however, went beyond the Indian wars of the 1870s. In the Civil War, Custer made his name as a bold and aggressive cavalry commander. After 1865, he led troops during Reconstruction in the South and explored the Black Hills for the federal government in addition to his well-documented conflicts with American Indians.George Armstrong Custer: A Military Life explores Custer's life and highlights the complex nature of his experiences and legacy. Yet as Barnard makes clear, Custer was one of many army officers and soldiers who took part in these struggles. Still, Custer's role in the Indian wars of the late nineteenth century has turned him into a notorious figure. Barnard looks beyond the myths surrounding Custer to reveal the influence he had on the frontier army and the West in addition to his symbolic legacy.

On 10 December 1869, the governor of Wyoming Territory signed the first full woman suffrage bill in the history of the United States. Suffragists in the neighboring territories of Montana and Dakota believed their prospects were similarly bright. Over the next twenty years, however, organizers’ efforts to secure votes for women met only limited success. While suffragists hoped the territories’ respective bids for statehood in 1889 and 1890 would change their fortunes, only Wyoming enshrined voting rights for all in its state constitution.The fight for full woman suffrage on the Northern Great Plains would take another three decades. In Equality at the Ballot Box, editors Lori Ann Lahlum and Molly P. Rozum have compiled a set of original essays that illuminate key aspects of the movement. Here, scholars uncover previously untold stories of the women who traveled immense distances to win over a diverse, often contentious public. Essential for understanding the larger picture of woman suffrage, including the significance of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, school suffrage, and the anti-suffrage movement, this volume reveals the impact this isolated, rural region had on women’s rights nationwide.The contributors to Equality at the Ballot Box build upon classic woman suffrage scholarship and develop new ideas that capture the spirit of suffrage on the Northern Great Plains. For the first time, the region’s unique circumstances are considered, including significant populations of European immigrants and American Indians as well as harsh climates and sprawling landscapes. By turning scholarly attention to this understudied area, Lahlum and Rozum start a long-needed conversation and point to rich avenues for further exploration.