South Dakota Biography Series – serie

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 Using Wilder's stories, personal correspondence, an unpublished autobiography, and experiences in South Dakota, Hill has produced a historical-literary biography of the famous and much-loved author.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.

A celebrated warrior who led his people to victory on the battlefield, Red Cloud was also a skilled diplomat who transitioned the Oglala Sioux to reservation life. In Red Cloud: Oglala Legend, John D. McDermott examines Red Cloud’s early years, his rise to prominence, and his struggle to protect his people from cultural domination.McDermott goes beyond Red Cloud’s War to focus on the Oglala chief’s time as a statesman. Chronicling the chief’s diplomatic trips to the United States capital, the author examines the changes in Red Cloud’s vision of armed resistance and his long-term strategy for maintaining Oglala life and culture. Through negotiation, passive resistance, and selective integration, Red Cloud worked to defend his people’s interests in the face of change.As the only American Indian leader to win a war against the United States Army, Red Cloud is a larger-than-life figure in the history of the West. McDermott adds new layers to the story of the chief, illuminating his early youth and worldview through little-used sources.Red Cloud: Oglala Legend is the fourth book in the South Dakota Biography Series, which highlights some of the state’s most famous residents.

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.

Best remembered as the man who carried the United States through a civil war and emancipated four million slaves, Abraham Lincoln has been the subject of nearly seventeen thousand books. While historians have chronicled his life and presidency, they rarely go beyond his assassination by John Wilkes Booth on 14 April 1865 to look at his legacy in the American West.Abraham Lincoln: A Western Legacy reveals how the sixteenth president shaped the country beyond the Mississippi River. Having grown up on the frontier and taken part in its political development, Lincoln often turned his attention westward after becoming president. By overseeing policies such as the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railroad Act and making key political appointments, Lincoln opened American Indian lands to settlers who forever changed the landscape and laid the foundation for the region’s modern politics and identity.Author Richard W. Etulain focuses on Lincoln’s role in remaking the West while providing a concise overview of his life. He also advances Lincoln scholarship by looking at efforts to memorialize the president in the decades following his assassination. Etulain’s original research, including his use of correspondence between local figures such as Senator Peter Norbeck and historian Doane Robinson, provides unique insight into the discussions that led to Lincoln’s immortalization on a mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota.Abraham Lincoln: A Western Legacy is the first book in the Mount Rushmore Subseries of the South Dakota Biography Series highlighting the presidents depicted on the national memorial and other figures connected with its history.

Mystery, myth, and legend surround Sacajawea, one of the few American Indian women whose name and singular significance have not been lost to history. Without Sacajawea's knowledge and assistance, the Corps of Discovery's venture to explore the furthest reaches of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase may well have failed.Sacajawea met Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, leaders of the Corps of Discovery, at the Mandan winter village in late 1804. Their expedition to the Pacific would require Shoshone horses to cross the Rocky Mountains. They anticipated a need for Sacajawea's linguistic skills; she could translate Shoshone to Hidatsa for her husband Toussaint Charbonneau, who in turn could translate Hidatsa to French. When the Corps departed the Mandan village in April 1805, Sacajawea, Charbonneau, and their newborn son Jean-Baptiste accompanied them.Sacajawea's familiarity with the terrain and skills for living off the land became essential for the Corps' survival. Not only did her Shoshone language skills prove indispensable for the Corps, but a chance reunion with her brother secured an alliance resulting in horses, supplies, and a guide. Significantly, having a woman with a baby as part of their entourage made the Corps appear as peaceful explorers rather than hostile invaders. Sacajawea's myriad contributions thereby ensured the Corps' success in reaching the Pacific Ocean.In this new biography of Sacajawea, Candy Moulton reads between the lines of the journals and letters written by members of the Corps of Discovery to provide a fascinating portrait of the Shoshone woman who made possible the success of the venture. The author takes Sacajawea's story beyond the triumphant return of the Corps to St. Louis in 1806, following the lives of her son Jean­Baptiste (b. 1805) and daughter Lizette (b. 1812). Moulton also examines the mystery of Sacajawea's death and the competing claims that surround it, which have added to the legendary status of this remarkable heroine.