Follows three families as they recreate the lives of Western homesteaders.

Describes the challenges that American settlers faced when they left the farms and towns in the East in their Conestoga wagons and headed West.

"Exiles in Indian Country weaves together the biographies of three men who cast their fortunes with the Western fur trade in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. John Tanner was a 'white Indian' who was taken captive and raised by Ottawa, and lived among the Ottawa and Ojibwa for thirty years, hunting across the northern forests and plains of present-day Ontario, Manitoba, and northern Minnesota. Dr. John McLoughlin fled the law in Quebec at the age of eighteen to work for the Hudson's Bay Company in the Lake Superior region during its two decades of war with the North West Company. Major Stephen H. Long explored the northern borderlands in a time when the United States aimed to take over British-Indian trade in its new western territories. The three men met at the HBC's Rainy Lake House near the Boundary Waters in 1823 after Tanner was badly wounded while trying to take his daughters out of Indian country, to save them from being raped by the white traders. Foregrounding this incident, Theodore Catton examines the events leading up to this fateful encounter through a Rashomon-like tale about the British-American-Indian frontier. Through these three colliding vantage points, the book describes the world of the fur trade: American, British, and Indian; imperial, capital, and labor; explorer, trader, and hunter. In its competing viewpoints, Exiles in Indian Country deftly crafts one grand narrative out of three and reveals the perilous lives of the white adventurers and their Indian families who lived on the fringe--truly the hands of empire"--Provided by publisher.

Who owns the West? -- Buffalo Bill and Karl May : the origins of German Western fandom -- A wall runs through it : western fans in the two Germanies -- Little houses on the prairie -- "And then the American Indians came over" : fan responses to indigenous resurgence and political change -- Indians into Confederates : historical fiction fans, reenactors, and living history.

This volume brings together contemporary popular entertainment, current political subjects, and medieval history and culture to investigate the intersecting and often tangled relations between politics, aesthetics, reality and fiction, in relation to issues of morality, identity, social values, power, and justice, both in the past and the present.

“If you loved Wilder’s books, or if you garden with a child who loves her books, you will enjoy the read.” —San Francisco Chronicle In this revealing exploration of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s deep connection with the natural world, Marta McDowell follows the wagon trail of the beloved Little House series. You’ll learn details about Wilder’s life and inspirations, pinpoint the Ingalls and Wilder homestead claims on authentic archival maps, and learn how to grow the plants and vegetables featured in the series. Excerpts from Wilder’s books, letters, and diaries bring to light her profound appreciation for the landscapes at the heart of her world. Featuring the beloved illustrations by Helen Sewell and Garth Williams, plus hundreds of historic and contemporary photographs, The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder is a treasure that honors Laura’s wild and beautiful life.