Book Reviews

We Made It Through the Winter. By Walter O'Meara. expeditions deep into the bush for blueberries, raspberries, (St. Paul, Minnesota Historical Society, 1974. xi, 128 p. and cranberries. Less joyous, perhaps, were the days at school Illustrations. $6.00.) with the smells of drying footgear, jackets, and mittens, "read­ ing, riting, and 'rithmatic," and the inevitable fights among TO ANYONE who grew up when Walter O'Meara did in the young boys. early years of the twentieth century — as well as to many There was also time.for play, and the author tells of "rubber younger people — his new book. We Made It Through the ice' on the mifi pond and then the real freeze when skating Winter, is pure delight. It brings a breeze as fresh as spring could begin, Halloween with its pranks, and games of marbles after the plethora of books coming out about problems and and mibs. Among "tremendous" events were the arrival of a conflicts, private and personal as well as global. Mr. O'Meara circus or carnival. Fourth of July, May Day, Easter, and the tells the story of one year in the life of a ten-year-old boy (him­ big parade of Memorial Day. self) in the mdl town of Cloquet, Minnesota, on the St. Louis Walter O'Meara has done all of us a great service in writing River when the smell of pine' was always in the air and the this book. It is good to recall, in this unbelievably complex age, screaming of the great saws was the lifeblood of the commu­ a simpler time when the American Dream was stifi alive. Older nity. The time was right after the turn of the century, when the generations may have their memories, but there is something big pines to the north seemed inexhaustible and the wildei'ness here for younger ones, too, at a time when so many people and open space were taken as a matter of course. It was a great seem to be looking for something they have lost — a simpler time and place for a small boy to grow up. Life had its hardships and more wholesome world of sound ethics, ideals, self- and privations, but no one felt deprived. reliance, and faith in the old virtues. We are under no dlusions about the problems of this The twenty-five photographs of cook shanties, logging period. In a recent book. The Good Old Days: They Were crews, horses hauling enormous loads, the mill pond full of Terrible, Otto L. Bettmann tells the harsher facts about social logs, the falls on the St. Louis — old Cloquet in its heyday — and economic problems and unrest. But for a boy in a town like help make it all come to life. The book is a treasure. Cloquet there were, aside from challenges, freedom and joy in Reviewed by SIGURD F. OLSON, prominent ecologist and living in a clean, unpolluted environm'ent, a sense of personal naturalist who has written nuinerous books and articles on the responsibility for one's welfare, and close family relationships. wilderness and its preservation. He himself grew up in small, Heroes walked the streets, and people enjoyed the deep satis­ midwestern towns close to nature. factions of plain, hard work and felt the pride of living close to the bush and somehow making it through the long, cold win­ ters when the men were in the lumber camps and the women and children had to fend for themselves. Tracing Minnesota's Old Government Roads. By Gra­ How fortunate we are to have Mr. O'Meara's memories! ver SIngley. They include horses rearing on dirt roads when meeting the (St. Paul, Minnesota Historical Society, 1974. 52 p. town's first automobile, the log drives that choked the river Maps, illustrations. Paperbound $3.95.) with timber in booms, river pigs and birlers, the boom house up the river; and the French cook who always had coffee and A SCHOLARLY work by defiriition will appeal to scholars; but doughnuts for hungry youngsters. when a scholarly work also appeals to others, it is a jewel. There are so many pictures: a family gathered around the Tracing Minnesota's Old Government Roads is a little jewel. In big, round table lighted by the soft, warm glow of a kerosene 52 pages, Grover Singley takes the reader through the routes lamp, the Radiant Base Burner with its bright isinglass of the first five mifitary roads constmcted in Minnesota Terri­ windows, the huge kitchen range with its reservoirs, and the tory by the federal government in the 1850s. pot of sourdough. The author also shares with us his recollec­ Where did diey go and why? These are always challenging tions of earning twenty cents to buy his mother a Christmas questions when one looks at roads and particularly those lo­ present, of going to early mass on Christmas, the tinkle of cated more than 100 years ago. With remarkable clarity and sleighbells, and the glow of candles. detad Singley's account answers these "questions. Even more Then, too, there was always work for a boy, as for everyone absorbing are the other comments relative to the time of which else: the unending chores of sawing, splitting, and piling wood, he writes. hauling water from the spring, digging and tending the garden, Leaving aside the technological differences for a moment, storing apples and vegetables in the cellar, and making joyous the process of building the old roads was remarkably similar to

190 Minnesota History that followed today: "no contracts could be negotiated unless or parties respectively; James Penick, Jr., presents three conser­ until the money had been appropriated and was available." vation themes; Melvin G. Holli assesses urban reform; Wdton Again: "This survey immediately blew up a storm of pro­ B. Fowler traces the course of American diplomacy from test in the territory because it was laid out entirely on Indian Theodore Roosevelt through Woodrow Wilson; and Thomas K. land west of the Mississippi and did not fit into the program of McCraw undertakes a summation of progressivism's historical territorial entrepreneurs." Again: "As a result of the protest all legacy. activities on the road ceased." And finally: "As with all Notwithstanding some variations in emphasis, a broad con­ other military roads constructed in Minnesota, the final cost of sensus permeates the eight essays. Essentially Mr. Moore this one was considerably higher than the original estimate. " speaks for the group when he writes: Such statements are still familiar today to those of us in­ "Later critics of the progressives . . have attacked terested in roads in Minnesota. The five roads covered in this progressive thinkers alternatively for their failure to engaging account are the Mendota-Wabasha Road, the Point throw off nineteenth-century morality and for capitula­ Douglas-St. Louis River Road, the Point Douglas-Fort Ripley tion to the directionless course of twentieth-century Road and the Red River addition, the Swan River-Long Prairie scientism. What one sees depends on one's biases. Both Road, and the Mendota-Big Sioux River Road. elements were present. The progressive outlook tried For Minnesotans, and particularly history buffs or old road to encompass beliefs in democracy, environmentalism, buffs, Mr. Singley has performed a signal service by author­ technology, efficiency, paternalism, moral goodness, ing this account. He has packed an amazing amount of detail in and the force of the human will. While it ended in an a short treatise, intertwined with a fascinating narrative of the impossible melange of conflicting values, the successors men who laid out the original routes as well as the author's of progressive reformers have had difficulty moving efforts to find and trace those routes today. One feels a tug to onto new ground. They have not, sad to say, found it search out some of the still-remaining signs of these old roads easy to locate other views to sustain hopes for a better as described by Mr. Singley. The beautifully drawn maps are future. " easily followed even by laymen and indicate several oppor­ If anything resembling an enduring "synthesis' interpret­ tunities for viewing the segments of the original route in as ing the progressive era is possible — a dim prospect at best — near their original condition as could be expected. Mr. Moore may have located it. In any case, the book seems to Of particular interest is the concluding paragraph: "In reflect a retreat from the harsh critiques of progressivism pro­ 1968, of the 101 miles of military road constructed, about .30 duced in recent years by so-called New Left historians. What miles had been abandoned, a few miles were included in state emerges is an interpretation combining a recognition of pro­ highways, and the remainder of the old military road route, gressivism's flaws with an affirmation that the progressive era much improved, was still in use in county roads. " was one of the very few genuinely creative epochs in American They planned perhaps better than they knew in those days. history. Grover Singley tells this story succinctly, interestingly, accu­ Reviewed by CARL H. CHRISLOCK, professor of history at rately, and, obviously, with great affection. Augsburg College and author of The Progressive Era in Min­ Reviewed by RAY LAPPEGAARD, who recently retired as com­ nesota, 1899-1918, published by the Minnesota Historical So­ missioner of the Minnesota Highway Department. ciety.

History of St. Olaf College, 1874-1974. By Joseph M. The Progressive Era. Edited by Lewis L. Gould. Shaw. (Syracuse, New York, Syracuse University Press, 1974. x, (Northfield, St. Olaf Cofiege Press, 1974. xv, 694 p. Illus­ 238 p. Illustrations. Clothbound $9.95, paperbound trations. $10.00.) $4.95.) IN HIS introduction to this volume, Lewis L. Gould remarks "TRADITION" was defined in my college world history course that "historians have made the first two decades of the twen­ as "a way of doing things. " It is traditional when a college or tieth century one of the most scrutinized periods in the na­ university celebrates its 100th anniversary that a centennial tional past." The point is well taken. Unhappily, no widely history of the school be written. Joseph M. Shaw, professor of accepted synthesis has emerged, but even so every nook and religion at St. Olaf and a 1949 graduate of the college, has cranny of the progressive era has been so thoroughly re­ written the one for his alma mater. searched and interpreted that one is tempted to invoke the law The first comprehensive histoid of St. Olaf was written in of diminishing returns when confronted with stdl another work 1949 at the time of the school's seventy-fifth anniversary. on progressivism. Rather than simply updating William C. Benson's High on Nevertheless, this book is a welcome addition to historical Manitou, Mr. Shaw has written a completely new work, at hterature. Consisting of eight original essays by as many young times reinterpreting the history of the college in light of events but established historians, it provides a broad interpretive sur­ which have occurred during the last twenty-five years. vey of the period's cultural and political trends. Stanley P. Caine The narrative is chronological. There are five major parts, analyzes the origins of progressivism; R. Laurence Moore in­ the first deafing with the founding of St. Olafs School at terprets the complex and paradoxical intellectual currents of Northfield in 1874, continuing through its change in status to the era; Lewis L. Gould and John J. Broesamle describe pro­ St. Olaf College in 1889, and its adoption by the United gressivism's impact on the national Repubfican and Democratic Norwegian Lutheran Church as its church college in the 1890s

Spring 1975 191 — all under the leadership of Thorbj0rn N. Mohn, successively into print a number of studies which might othei'wise never principal of the school and first president of the college. have appeared. The fourteen papers have as their unifying The other four parts are identified mainly with the presi­ theme the Indian occupation of the Minnesota area, which has dents who served during each of the periods covered: John N. been the major interest of Mr. Wilford. Kildahl (1899-1914) and Lauritz A. Vigness (1914-1918), Lars On an introductory page there is a photograph of Mr. W. Boe (1918-1942), Clemens M. Granskou (194.3-1963), and Wilford, Albert E. Jenks, an unidentified Algerian, and an­ the current president, Sidney A. Rand, Mr. Shaw assesses the other unidentified man at a Capsian site in Algiers in 1931. influence each president had on the development of St. Olaf, The latter is Ralph E. Brown, who worked in Kentucky during not only direcdy but also through the people he appointed to Works Progress Administration days and later was state arch­ its faculty and staff during his tenure. All is reported in terms of aeology supervisor in Kentucky. well-researched scholarship, with the occasional necessary The introductory chapter by H. E. Wright, Jr., on "The touches of humor. Environment of Early Man in the Great Lakes Region" is a The work does tend to be somewhat repetitious at times. A masterly summary of the best current knowledge by an out­ bit more editing to tighten it up would have been weO, but in standing student of the subject. Nancy S. Ossenberg's study of spite of this it can be classed among the better college his­ "Origins and Relationships of Woodland Peoples: The Evi­ tories. The index is detailed and easy to use, and the illustra­ dence of Cranial Morphology" is a welcome addition to the tions seem to have been chosen to help the reader identify growing body of data on the prehistoric populations. Her in­ quickly and easily many of the people and places discussed. terpretations are that the southern population of the Blackduck One of the appendixes brings up to date the list of faculty complex are ancestral Dakota, that the Manitoba phase is members and administrators which Mr. Benson compiled in proto-Assiniboin and the divergence between Dakota and As- his history to the year 1949, and another does the same for siniboin goes back to the end of the Laurel complex, and that members of the board of regents. The appendix, "Manitou the Arvilla complex is the product of ancestral Cheyenne. They Miscellany," a collection of short items from college records certainly are reasonable conclusions. and publications, adds a more human, and ofttimes humorous, The lake district of north-central Wisconsin is a delightful perspective to the reporting of events in the history of St. Olaf area for summer vacationers, as it may have been for hunter- College. gatherers. Its sparse populations during the past were a hand­ Mr. Shaw is at his best when describing the people who icap for Robert J. Salzer's study. Occupancy over a long period were the builders of St. Olaf. For example, his description of is indicated, but the definition of clear, short-term, cultural Anne Blegen as "a refined, scholarly teacher of French and an complexes is difficult and subject to revision. As an example, I attractive personality' could not be more accurate. When Miss suspect that his Nokomis phase is early Late Woodland, rather Blegen left St. Olaf in 1946 she went to Macalester College, than Eai'ly or Middle Woodland as proposed. Christy A. H. where it was my pleasure to know her as a teacher and my Gaines contribution, "The Archaeology of the Snake River Re­ faculty adviser. gion in Minnesota," also shows evidence of lengthy, though Alumni and friends of St. Olaf College are the natural audi­ never widespread, occupation. I recognized no ceramic mate­ ence for Mr. Shaw's history. But the book also has much value rial from the drawings that I would call Middle Woodland. W. to persons interested in such varied topics as higher education C. McKern's estimate of the age of Clam River ware was prob­ in Minnesota, the Norwegian Lutheran church, and the role ably wrong, although the cultural association into Minnesota Norwegians played in the history of the state. was certainly sound. Revieived by EDWARD SWANSON, head of the Minnesota His­ Jack Steinbring again is faced with a large area and little torical Society's technical .services department. He is a graduate data in his paper, "The Preceramic Archaeology of Northern of Macalester College and the author of several ai-ticles on the Minnesota." He presents some interesting data, which were history of his alma mater. new to me, on early Archaic occupations, among which I do not include Minnesota Man. I have no confidence in a 3657 B.C. date for copper at Modoc for a number of reasons. Few cultural dates go back as far as 3000 B.C. I doubt that there is a Snyders point from South Fowl Lake. Copper had a super­ Aspects of Upper Great Lakes Anthropology: Papers natural connotation for the historic Algonquians of the Lake in Honor of Lloyd A. Wilford. Edited by Elden Superior region, but so did every other aspect of their lives. Johnson. James B. Stoltman, in his analysis, "Within-Laurel Cul­ (St. Paul, Minnesota Historical Society, 1974. \, 190 p. 1\- tural Variability in Northern Minnesota," has the opportunity lustrations. Paperbound $9.50.) to re-evaluate his analysis of data from the McKinstry site, confess his past sins, add radiocarbon dates, and establish that THIS VOLUME is a Festschrift for Lloyd A. Wflford, whose much of the cultural variation that Mr. Wilford recognized work in Minnesota archaeology from 1928 until his retirement within Laurel is a result of age differences. The central Des in 1959 has hitherto been largely unsung. My own knowledge Moines River Valley in Iowa has essentially been terra incog­ of his situation and Elden Johnson's excellent introduction nita, and David M. Gradwohl's paper is a fine addition. confirm the idea that Mr. Wilford's work did not have a high Thomas F. Kehoe, in his contribution, presents some interest­ priority at the University of Minnesota. His production despite ing concepts of what he calls "The Large Corner-notched Point financial and other handicaps is a lasting tribute to him. We can System of the Northern Plains and Adjacent Woodlands." One thank Mr. Wilford again for this volume, which has brought can certainly agree with him that the spread of ideas and 192 Minnesota History technologies at many levels was through human contact, in the torical Society is to be congratulated on sponsoring this valu­ absence of the printed word or other media. able addition to its publications, the eleventh in its Minnesota It is heart warming to see a discussion of "Culture Contact: Prehistoric Archaeology Series. It does honor to the society, Effigy Mound and Oneota," by William M. Hurley. One of his Mr. Wilford, the editor, and the contributors. objectives is to indicate his disbelief in the idea of Oneota Reviewed by JAMES B. GRIFFIN, director of the Museum of developing out of Effigy Mound, an idea for which no evidence Anthropology at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. has ever been produced since it was proposed in the early 1940s by two archaeologists who knew nothing about either Effigy Mound or Oneota. While I can recognize a gradual change from Middle Woodland complexes into Effigy Mound Finlandssvenskar i Amerika. The Finland-Swedes in and other Late Woodland groups around 300 to 500 A.D., I am America. By Anders Myrhman. not convinced by his argument either here or in his "An (Helsinki, Svenska Litteratursallskapet i Finland, 1972. Analysis of Effigy Mound Complexes in Wisconsin, " published 566 p. dlustrations. Fmk:-80.) by the Museum of Anthropology in Ann Arbor, that Oneota goes back to the seventh century or in fact any earlier than the THE FINLAND-SWEDES, or Swedish-Finns, are a smafl eleventh century at the outside. immigrant group of which little is generally known. They rep­ Guy E. Gibbon has a stimulating paper called "A Model of resent the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland, but they Mississippian Development and Its Implications for the Red were not visible before 1960 in American census reports, Wing Area. " He proposes that there are strong resemblances where they were regarded either as emigrants from Finland or between the state-level of cultural development achieved in as people whose mother tongue was Swedish. Mexico and other areas and that formed in the Cahokia area. I Anders Myrhman is himself a member of this community. think his suggestion suffers from a number of handicaps, prin­ He spent some of his first American years in Minnesota and cipally the lack of understanding and agreement among ar­ was for many years professor of sociology at Bates College, chaeologists on the definition of a state-level of organization, Lewiston, Maine. He has written a very full account of his and the lack of sound data on actual population size, density, people, in Swedish, in Finlandssvenskar i Amerika. He calcu­ and economic activity of the Cahoki? centers. For a starter, I lates that about 73,000 Finland-Swedes came to North America would categorically deny that there was a Ramey State in any from 1871 to 1929 and that in 1930 there were about 34,000 of reasonable sense of the term. the first generation in the United States. Three-quarters of The discussion of the "Subsistence Pattern Change at the them came from the rural province of Ostrobothnia, and they Cambria Site: A Review and Hypothesis, " by Charles R. Wat- represented about one-fifth of the total immigration from Fin­ rail, presents evidence on faunal remains, some discussion of land. lithic artifacts, and suggested sources and comments on proba­ Mr. Myrhman describes the geographical and occupational ble agricultural activities. He suggests that the Cambrian distribution of the Finland-Swedes in America, outlines the economy was subject to sufficient changes in the climatic pat­ development of the specifically Finland-Swedish temperance tern to cause a significant shift from dependence on com to and sick benefit societies and religious organizations, and dis­ more refiance on bison. I was impressed by the chapter on "An cusses the problems of Americanization and the second genera­ Interpretation of Midden Formation — The Mill Creek Exam­ tion. ple," by David A. Baerreis and Robert A. Alex. It is a carefully About three-fifths of the book consists of histories of the reasoned presentation and interpretation of the construction of local communities of Finland-Swedes. One section is devoted certain Mifl Creek and other comparable sites. Quite a number to Minnesota, which attracted them in significant numbers. of years ago I was puzzled by the reported depth of MiU Creek They began to flow into the state and especially into the and related sites in the Middle Missouri, and this chapter is a northern part, in the 1880s, drawn first by work opportunities great help. I would also call to the attention of archaeologists in the lumber camps and sawmills, and then by the demand for the considerable time range of dates for the Brewster and miners in the open pits of the Iron Range. Before long, how­ Kimball sites by an excellent laboratory. The length of occupa­ ever, many began to move out of these occupations into the tion is probably not, however, nearly as long as might be building trades, especially into carpentry. Significant numbers thought. became farmers and some even became fishermen. The second I have a natural emotional tie with the fate of La Salle's generation has moved into many sectors of society, including boat, the "Griffin" or "Griffon." It is not clear that La Salle the professions. himself ever caOed it that. Ronald J. Mason, in a carefufiy Duluth, which had about 2,000 Finland-Swedes of the first argued chapter, presents his case that the place where the boat and second generations in 1928, naturally has pride of place in was loaded with furs was Huron Island, between Door Penin­ Mr. Myrhman's book. An English version of this account, in sula and Washington Island. Mildred Mott Wedel has written somewhat shorter form, can be found in the January, 1963, an ethnohistorical study on "Le Sueur and the Dakota Sioux," a Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly. Other centers in St. form at which she is a past master, as the book's final paper. Louis County which tbe author describes include Chisholm, Historians reading this volume will probably find these last two Eveleth (which at one time had 300 to 400 Finland-Swedes), contributions the most interesting. Hibbing, the farming community of East Little Fork, and The final section of the book is the list of references cited, Larsmont (which received its name from Larsnio in Finland). compded by Mr. Johnson and his associates. It is an excellent There are also sections on the Twin Cities, Hopkins (where short list of Minnesota archaeology tides. The Minnesota His­ they were attracted first by the raspberi'y horticulture and Spring 1975 193 stayed to become factory workers), the isolated agricultural terrent to frontier expansion. Concerning the latter, most settlement of Palisade, and Brainerd (where the immigrants settlers in the new country never had direct contact with In­ included the parents of former Governor C. Elmer Anderson). dians. These local histories name many individuals and give informa­ Space limits this reviewer from delving into the various tion on lodges and the much smaller number of churches. topics which the author so adroitly discusses. The budding of Since the end of the period of mass immigration, the tendency log cabins, the different modes of land and water transporta­ has been, with a few exceptions, for the lodges to decline in tion, and the despoflment and spoliation of natural resources numbers and for the churches to grow but to lose their ethnic by overzealous and enterprising concerns are some of the sub­ homogeneity. jects detailed. Valuable information on the individuals who The book contains a sizable bibliography (most of the settled the new counti'y and worked in the mines and on the sources are in Swedish), indexes of subjects and places in Fin­ railroads is presented. Moreover, a chapter on the urban fron­ land, a two-page Engfish summary, and a section of photo­ tier — a neglected subject until recently — is most enlighten­ graphs . ing. New light is shed on life in cities, towns, and mining A four-volume set of dupficated works, selected and edited camps. Mr. Bartlett ascribes to the current thesis that life in by Anders Myrhman, complements Finlandssvenskar i Ameri­ urban areas of the West was not as wild and violent as it has ka. It is entitled Emigrantbiografier: en samling .skilaringar been depicted. rorande finlands.svenskar i Amerika, or Emigrant biographies: More than just a mere narrative or chronology of the fron­ A collection of sketches concerning Finland-Swedes in tier experience, the book intermingles penetrating ideas, in­ America (Abo, Abo Akademis Bibliotek, Stencilserie, 6, 7, 10, terpretations, and, at times, the author's personal bias. The 11, 1973-74). Many of these approximately seventy biographi­ book contains excellent illustrations, helpful maps, a very good cal sketches were written by the subjects, and some first bibliographical essay, and a minimal (perhaps too minimal) appeared in the Finland-Swedish press in America. Some amount of footnotes. Written for both the historian and the concern leaders of the community, such as pastors and editors, general reader. The New Country is a valuable addition to but more of these life-dramas were played out in logging western Americana. Mr. Bartlett is to be lauded for his neatly camps, mines, farms, and industrial plants. woven pattern of the settlers' migration to and settlement of the West. Reviewed by MICHAEL BROOK, former chief librarian at the Minnesota Historical Society, who compiled the Reference Reviewed by RAYMOND WILSON, doctoral candidate in his­ Guide to Minnesota History, recently publi.shed by the Min­ tory at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque. He nesota Historical Society. Mr. Brook, now living in England, has written articles and book reviews on western and has a deep interest in Scandinavian-American literature. Indian history for several historical journals.

The Divided Heart: Scandinavian Immigrant Experi­ The New Country: A Social History of the Ameri­ ence through Literary Sources. By Dorothy Burton can Frontier, 1776-1890. By Richard A. Bartlett. SkSrdal. (New York, Oxford University Press, 1974. viii, 487 p. (Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press, 1974. 394 p. Illustrations. $15.95.) $20.00.)

"TO THE NEW COUNTRY" rather than "to the frontier" or THE AUTHOR of this volume, at great pains to anticipate afl "to the Wesf' was the most common phrase employed by the possible criticisms, devotes much space, especially in the first pioneers in describing their destinations as they moved West, two chapters and the last, to explanations of her procedures and Richard A. Bartlett has vividly portrayed what the frontier and disarming concessions of incompleteness. This doctoral experience was like for the mfllions of people who undertook dissertation approach interrupts but does not detract from a this adventure. To Mr. Bartlett, the story of the process of laborious attempt to portray Scandinavian immigrant experi­ migration and settlement has too long been told as a myriad of ence from imaginative literature produced by immigrants or disunited and broken incidents instead of "as a great sweep those close to their experience. As indicated by her bibliog­ westward, unbroken, inevitable, of epic proportions. " This raphy, she has exercised wide discretion in her selection of wider view which the author uses is both refreshing and suc­ "literary" material, ranging from the heights of the Ole E. cessful. R0lvaag novels to the literary supplements of newspapers and Beginning with the remarkable speed with which the vast the contributors to Christmas annuals. While she has footnoted country stretching from the Appalachians to the Pacific was each quotation used, the authors of much of her material re­ occupied — 114 years — Mr. Bartlett exposes several myths main rather obscure, and one is asked to accept Mrs. Skardal's about this sweep across the continent. Succinctly, he points out judgment as to the value of a particular author's observations. that the land beyond the Appalachians was not a mysterious or Again one is asked to accept Mrs. Skardal's opinions on a great unknown area to the settlers, but that, in fact, their geographi­ variety of aspects of immigrant life on the basis of her bibliog­ cal knowledge of America's interior was more widespread raphy but without direct documentation. than previously befieved; that the continent was not a trackless As to the historical facts of the immigrants' experiences, wilderness but, in reality, contained manv paths, trafls, and Mrs. Skardal has listed a few standard authorities of varied water routes; and that the Indians were not an invincible de- usefulness, but she does not seem to have made use of the

194 Minnesota History large amount of new material produced in recent years in each and with it the decfine of the Scandinavian-American press, of the Scandinavian countries as well as in the United States. and the resulting mix of ethnic survivals and increasing Nevertheless, this reviewer could identify subjectively with Americanization. much that is reported in this volume, even though he would There is fittle specific geographical identification as to loca­ have been more comfortable with more factual material. tion in the United States, and it is therefore difficult to deter­ The author describes the familiar situation of underprivi­ mine the setting of many of the quotations or assertions. There leged people in the homelands, the experiences of the jour­ are mentions of state or territorial units but seldom of specific ney to the New World, the frequently unpleasant reception in communities. There was great variety of writer reaction to American ports, and the varied experiences of immigrants on locality, and although the author makes this point she does not arrival in the American Midwest. She then explores the loosen­ document it adequately. The book is therefore of limited use­ ing of the bonds to homeland ways, the acceptance of the idols fulness for Minnesota history. of success, the development of immigrant-American institu­ tions with much imitation of American models, the gradual Reviewed by CARLTON C. QUALEY', professor emeritus of his­ changes in values in the family and in social relationships, the tory at Carleton College and research fellow in charge of the increased participation in American affairs, the survival of cer­ Minnesota Ethnic History Project at the Minnesota Historical tain foods and customs, the gradual loss of the original language Society. news & noTes

AS OF January, 1975, major books and Compiled by James E. Fogerty, regional contact Ms. Gold, Department of His­ pamphlets published by the society will centers director, the Preliminary Guide tory, 614 Social Science Tower, Univer­ appear under a new imprint — the to the Holdings of the Minnesota Re­ sity of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455. Minnesota Historical Society Press. A gional Research Centers (20 p., $1.00) distinctive logo for the press, designed by fists holdings, as of September 30, 1974, A RESEARCHER and writer on Ameri­ Alan Ominsky, will be used to dis­ at the repositories located on the cam­ can Indians, Karen Daniels Petersen, tinguish these titles. The change was puses of Bemidji, Mankato, Moorhead, has been awarded a Minnesota Historical made to recognize the growing stature St. Cloud, Southwest, and Winona state Society Public Affairs Center Research of the institution's book publishing pro­ colleges and the University of Minnesota FeUowship. Mrs. Petersen, of West St. gram and clearly to differentiate its major at Morris. Updated guides will be issued Paul, wifl use the $2,400 stipend to do works from the many reports and other from time to time as the centers continue research on "Asa W." and Jared W. departmental publications that have ap­ to collect and process additional mate­ Daniels, two early Minnesota physicians peared with confusing frequency in re­ rials. and brothers who were deeply involved cent years. Althoiigh the guide lists a wide range in Indian-white relations in the Midwest The first book to bear the new im­ of materials, emphasis is on the papers of and Far West. Mrs. Petersen is the au­ print is Gopher Reader II, an anthology state legislators and the records of local thor of a film script and several articles of articles from the Gopher Historian businesses. The guide is divided into two and books, including Plains Indian Art magazine for young people which was principal sections listing manuscripts From Fort Marion, published in 1971. discontinued in 1972. The Reader, com­ and oral history inteiviews. The latter Her interest in the Daniels brothers piled by Hermina Poatgieter, former section is subdivided into four general is both personal and professional. She is editor of the Gopher Historian, and groups on the Farm Holiday Association^ Asa's granddaughter and the grandniece James Taylor Dunn, retired chief li­ Minnespta state legislators and politics, of Jared, whose personal papers she in­ brarian, was pubfished in Aprfl, 1975. the'Red River Vafley of the North in the herited years ago. Throughout her ca­ The society is the oldest book pub- Great Depression of the 1930s, and reer, she says, she has often been re­ fisher in the state, having issued its first reminiscences. Also included is a simple minded "of my duty to the Danielses," volume in 1850 when Minnesota was still place index. who began their frontier careers as gov­ a territory. Its output increased dramati­ ernment physicians to the Dakota Indians cally in the last decade under the direc­ A CONFERENCE on the history of in Minnesota. Her grandfather Asa was tion of Mrs. June D. Holmquist, assistant women, sponsored by the Women His­ twenty-four and had recently acquired a director for research and publications. torians of the Midwest (WHOM), wifl be medical diploma when he arrived in Currently the institution has in print held at the College of St. Catherine, St. Minnesota Territor'y in 1853. He was ap­ over seventy-five major titles. Paul, on Friday evening, October 24, pointed surgeon to the Lower Sioux and all day Saturday, October 25. Agency at Fort Ridgely ne;ar New Ulm. Jared Daniels arrived in 1855 and was A NEW AID for scholars and students Carol Gold, professor of history at the first physician at the Upper Sioux using collections in the seven-location the University of Minnesota, is program Agency near Granite Falls. network of Minnesota Regional Research chairperson. Subjects in many areas of Centers, estabfished by the Minnesota women's history will be presented in the The Minnesota Historical Society es­ Historical Society and co-operating col­ various sessions. For further information tablished the Pubfic Affairs Center in leges, has been published by the society. and arrangements for papers to be given. 1967 to caU attention to the influence of

Spring 1975 195 Minnesotans and midwestern organiza­ continue work on a biograph)' of Henry began a store, and built a house. Now a tions on the course of politics and gov­ H. Sibley. grandson, George A. Haven, has written ernment in the nineteenth and twentieth a history of the town entitled Chatfield, centuries. Its work is currently aided by THE SIOUX ATTACK on an advance Minnesota Territory: Its Settlers, Their financial support from the Northwest setdenient at Lake Shetek in southwest­ Environment, and Their Successors. The Area Foundation (see note below). ern Minnesota on August 20, 1862, and author says the book was inspired by the the fate of two women and six children fact that he and his father, George H. who were captured there by White Haven, between them have lived in the NORTHWEST AREA Foundation is the Lodge's band and taken to Dakota Terri­ town in all but the first three years since new name of the Louis W. and Maud tory are the focal points of an article by it was founded. Mr. Haven put together Hifl Family Foundation of St. Paul. In James S. Gray in the Winter, 1975, issue much of his history from accounts and the announcement of the change it was of Montana the Magazine of Western stories told by older members of the pointed out that the foundation ""has con­ History. How the women — Julia community. Most important of these sistently endeavored to meet needs in Wright and Laura Duley — and the was his father who "in a sense is a the region from which a large portion of children were eventually rescued on the coauthor, " he writes in his dedication. its funds was derived. " Since the deaths Missouri River, thanks in large measure of Mr. and Mrs. Hill the foundation "'has Mr. Haven writes about the early to fur trader Charles E. Galpin and his years, and the settlers, their homes, gone beyond the usual scope of a typical Sioux wife Matilda, forms the burden of 'family foundation. " Therefore, the di­ businesses, professions, schools, the last part of the article. Illustrations churches, clubs, entertainment, and rectors and trustees decided ""it more include scenes from the John Stevens suitable that the Foundation should other aspects of the town's life. Some in­ panorama owned by the Minnesota His­ teresting illustrations help tell the his­ henceforth bear the name of the region torical Society. The society also fur­ which it primarily sei'ves. " tory. The 147-page book is not indexed. nished several sources for the article. It is available for $7.00 from the author at Chatfield, Minnesota 55923. The price A SYNTHESIS of 220 years of fur trade A NEW BOOK called German-American includes postage and handling. history in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Settlements in the United States (Fargo, neighboring areas has been ac­ North Dakota Institute for Regional AN ARTICLE that first appeared in the complished skillfully by Rhoda R. Gil­ Studies, 1974. xiii, 307 p. $9.50) contains Spring, 1972, issue o{Minnesota History man in an article, '"The Fur Trade in the little direct information on Minnesota's — C. Allyn Russefl's '"Wifliam Bell Riley: Upper Mississippi Vafley, 1630-1850, " Russian-Germans except to note their Architect of Fundamentalism " — has published in the Autumn, 1974, issue of locations in McLeod, Sibley, and Cotton­ been reprinted in the January-March, Wisconsin Magazine of History. Calling wood counties. However, the volume, 1975, issue of Foundations: A Baptist upon a wide range of sources old and written by Richard Sallet and translated Journal of History and Theology, pub­ new, including works based on the latest by La Vern J. Rippley and Armand lished quarterly by the American Baptist archaeological findings, Mrs. Gilman has Bauer, does furnish a large amount of Historical Society. The reprint includes pulled together a host of related subjects background information about the emi­ the footnotes but not the illustrations for her study. Among them are the vary­ gration of the Evangelical, Catholic, and that accompanied the original publica­ ing roles in the fur trade of such Indians Mennonite Russian-Germans from vari­ tion. A study of the influential and as the Ottawa at Chequamegon Bay of ous parts of old Russia, especially the frequently turbulent career of the long­ Lake Superior, the Chippewa in north­ Volga and Black Sea areas. time local and national fundamentafist ern Minnesota and elsewhere, the Win­ Mr. Sallet describes the dispersion of leader and pastor of the First Baptist nebago, and the Sioux. One theme the these people over the plains states and Church of Minneapolis, the Riley article author develops is the importance of the bordering areas of Canada and espe­ won the Solon J. Buck Award for the best Prairie du Chien, site of a large Fox vil­ cially emphasizes the movements into article to appear in Minnesota History in lage, as a great rendezvous point and as a the Dakotas, with which he is evidently 1972. fur trade center over a span of many best acquainted. The book provides in­ years. formation on the preservation of cultural Mrs. Gilman also covers the changes traits and includes numerous reproduc­ in the trade brought over the years by tions of photographs of persons and INDEX AVAILABLE wars and by shifts from French to British farmsteads, distribution maps by states, THE INDEX for volume 43 of Min- to American control (after the War of two appendixes, and an index. Reorgani­ nesota History, covering the eight issues 1812). ""What the Americans had won," zation and rewriting would have im­ published in 1972 and 1973, is now the author writes, ""was the privilege of proved readabflity, but even in its pres­ ready. Subscribers do not automatically presiding over the closing years and final ent form the book contains a wealth of receive the index; it must be ordered. destruction of the Indian fur trade in this information about a relatively little The price for this and earfier indexes region. The seeds of that destruction known element of the American popula­ is $3.00. (Add 50 cents for postage and were in the American hunger for land tion. handling if ordering by mail. Minneso­ and the engulfing wave of white settle­ Carlton C. Qualey tans should also add a 4 per cent sales ment." Only in the last part of the article tax.) Indexes can be purchased for the does Mrs. Gilman cover some of the CHATFIELD, located in the Root River following volumes of Minnesota History: same ground she dealt with earlier in her Valley, was first settled in 18.53 and for a 8, 16, 17, 23, 24, 26, 28-31, .34^3. '"Last Days of the Upper Mississippi Fur time was one of "the most flourishing Orders should be sent to the Min­ Trade," published in Minnesota History towns in southern Minnesota. " In 1856 nesota Historical Society Order De­ in Winter, 1970. The author, a former Augustus Haven and his famfly moved partment, 1500 Mississippi Street, St. editor of this magazine, is on leave from from Galena, Illinois, to the new settle­ Paul, Minnesota .55101. the MHS educational sei-vices division to ment where Haven bought property.

196 Minnesota History j^u^inc e 1849, when it was chartered by the first territorial legislature, the Minnesota Histor­ THE ical Society has been preserving a record of the state's history. Its outstanding library and its vast collection of manuscripts, newspapers, pictures, and museum objects reflect this activity. The society also interprets Minne­ sota's past, telling the story of the state IIINISOTA and region through publications, museum displays, tours, institutes, and restoration of historic sites. The work of the society is supported in HISTORICAL part by the state and in part by private contributions, grants, and membership dues. SOCIETY Jt is a chartered public institution governed by an executive council of interested citizens and belonging to all who support it through mem­ bership and participation in its programs. You are cordially invited to use its resources and to join in its efforts to make Minnesota a community with a sense of strength from the past and purpose for the future.

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RONALD M. HUBBS ELMER L. ANDERSEN RICHARD B. DUNSWORTH TERENCE O'BRIEN Pre.sident T. R. ANDERSON JAMES R. ECKMAN CLAYTON OBERMEIER PAUL L. PARKER RICHARD W. FITZSIMONS Vice-president CHARLES W. ARNASON RICHARD J PARISH BOWER HAWTHORNE NORBERT ARNOLD PETER S. POPOVICH CURTIS L. ROY MRS. CHARLES HUMPHREY Vice-president PIERCE BUTLER GORDON ROSENMEIER EDGAR F. JOHNSON DONALD B. SHANK HORACE CHAMBERLAIN ROBERT L. ROSSMAN V!ce-pre.s!(/ent WILLIAM G. KIRCHNER MRS. FRANK CHESLEY ROBERT J. SIVERTSEN RODNEY C. LOEHR RUSSELL W. FRIDLEY CARL H. CHRISLOCK EMILY ANNE STAPLES Secretary MRS. CHARLES R. MCCOY JOHN J. COSTELLO JOSEPH S. MICALLEF BARBARA STUHLER KENNON V. ROTHCHILD Trea.surer THOMAS M. CROSBY LOUIS M. MOORE LYMAN E. WAKEFIELD Copyright of Minnesota History is the property of the Minnesota Historical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. Users may print, download, or email articles, however, for individual use.

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