In early America, interracial homicide—whites killing Native Americans, Native Americans killing whites—might result in a massive war on the frontier; or, if properly mediated, it might actually facilitate diplomatic relations, at least for a time. In Killing over Land, Robert M. Owens explores why and how such murders once played a key role in Indian affairs and how this role changed over time. Though sometimes clearly committed to stoke racial animus and incite war, interracial murder also gave both Native and white leaders an opportunity to improve relations, or at least profit from conflict resolution. In the seventeenth century, most Indigenous people held and used enough leverage to dictate the terms on which such conflicts were resolved; but after the mid-eighteenth century, population and material advantages gave white settlers the upper hand. Owens describes the ways settler colonialism, as practiced by Anglo-Americans, put tremendous pressure on Native peoples, culturally, socially, and politically, forcing them to adapt in the face of violence and overwhelming numbers. By the early nineteenth century, many Native leaders recognized that, with population and power so heavily skewed against them, it was only practical to negotiate for the best possible terms; lex talionis justice—blood for blood—proved an unrealistic goal. Consequently, Indigenous and white leaders alike became all too willing to overlook murder if it led to some kind of gain—if, for instance, justice might be traded for financial compensation or land cessions. Ultimately, what Owens analyzes in Killing over Land is nothing less than the commodification of human life in return for a sense of order—as defined and accepted, however differently, by both Native and white authorities as the contest for land and resources intensified in the European colonization of North America.

Milly Francis is the true story of the first woman to receive a special medal of honor from the U.S. Congress. Born in the Creek Nation of Alabama in around 1803, Milly was a first hand witness to the rise and fall of her father's religious movement and the Creek War of 1813-1814. By the time she was 15 years old, she had survived three wars and a desperate flight for survival to Spanish Florida. It was at that age that she saved the life of an American soldier named Duncan McCrimmon, a man who had come to Florida with Andrew Jackson's army to make war on her people during the First Seminole War of 1817-1818. Her act of mercy stunned a grateful nation and sparked a reconsideration of America's attitudes toward its original inhabitants, a process that continues to this day. In Milly Francis, Dale Cox has captured the story of a person, a time and a people. The story he weaves is touching, tragic, heroic and real.

During the 1800s, daring and courageous girls across America left their unique mark on history. Milly Cooper galloped 9 miles through hostile Indian Territory to summon help when Fort Cooper was under attack. Belle Boyd risked her life spying for the Rebels during the Civil War. Kate Shelly, when she was 15, crawled across a nearly washed-out railroad bridge during a ferocious thunderstorm to warn the next train. Lucille Mulhall, age 14, outperformed cowboys to become the World’s First Famous Cowgirl. These are just a few of the inspiring true stories inside Hometown Heroines—American Girls who faced danger and adversity and made a difference in their world. AWARDS: Winner, Children's Literary Classics' Seal of Approval

"For most Americans, the Revolution's main achievement is summed up by the phrase 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' Yet far from a straightforward attempt to be free of Old World laws and customs, the American founding was also a bid for inclusion in the community of nations as it existed in 1776. America aspired to diplomatic recognition under international law and the authority to become a colonizing power itself. The Revolution was an international transformation of the first importance. To conform to the public law of Europe's imperial powers, Americans crafted a union nearly as centralized as the one they had overthrown, endured taxes heavier than any they had faced as British colonists, and remained entangled with European Atlantic empires long after the Revolution ended. No factor weighed more heavily on Americans than the legally plural Atlantic where they hoped to build their empire. Gould follows the region's transfiguration from a fluid periphery with its own rules and norms to a place where people of all descriptions were expected to abide by the laws of Western Europe -- 'civilized' laws that precluded neither slavery nor the dispossession of Native Americans."--Jacket

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. The WPA Guide to Oklahoma is filled with descriptions of Native American life in the region, accompanied by many photographs. From Black Mesa to Cavanal Hill, this guide to the Sooner State takes the reader on a journey across the state’s vast and varied landscape. Also, notable in this guide is an essay by prominent historian Edward Everett Dale entitled “The Spirit of Oklahoma.”