Western Road Trip
Skipping northward today, we take a look at some Western history. When you travel in the Western United States, you are surrounded by history–not the centuries-old art and buildings that surround you in Europe, but the more recent history of settler’s trails, ghost towns, and mine camps.
Book: Dakota, or What’s a Heaven For (November 2010)by Brenda Marshall

This is a big book with a big story to tell. Although I have read a lot of western history, I had no idea of the way that the Dakotas (at the time of the novel one territory rather than North and South) were settled. The story of Dakota, Or What’s a Heaven For sweeps you along by focusing in on the individual story of one fascinating woman and her relationships. Because Frances’ father-in-law is involved with the railroads, a critical component in the settling of the territory, and her husband is in journalism, the family is very well-off and Frances comes into contact with people of all layers of society. This enables Brenda Marshall to cover the areas of politics, economics, transportation, agriculture, and all the other components of history in the form of stories rather than dry facts and statistics. Continue reading Pioneering in North Dakota