Legends Of The Red River Valley

Legends of the early Denison. Sherman, Bonham, Caddo Lake and Paris areas.

Mainstream of frontier history from the Louisiana Bayous to the Texas Panhandle.

The great majority of the South's plantation homes have been destroyed over time, and many have long been forgotten. In Lost Plantations of the South, Marc R. Matrana weaves together photographs, diaries and letters, architectural renderings, and other rare documents to tell the story of sixty of these vanquished estates and the people who once called them home. From plantations that were destroyed by natural disaster such as Alabama's Forks of Cypress, to those that were intentionally demolished such as Seven Oaks in Louisiana and Mount Brilliant in Kentucky, Matrana resurrects these lost mansions. Including plantations throughout the South as well as border states, Matrana carefully tracks the histories of each from the earliest days of construction to the often contentious struggles to preserve these irreplaceable historic treasures. Lost Plantations of the South explores the root causes of demise and provides understanding and insight on how lessons learned in these sad losses can help prevent future preservation crises. Capturing the voices of masters and mistresses alongside those of slaves, and featuring more than one hundred elegant archival illustrations, this book explores the powerful and complex histories of these cardinal homes across the South.

Authoritative guide to everything in print about lawmen and the lawless—from Billy the Kid to the painted ladies of frontier cow towns. Nearly 2,500 entries, taken from newspapers, court records, and more.

Crookston is in the heart of the fertile Red River Valley. Railroad baron James J. Hill positioned the city to be a hub of transportation, so Civil War veterans and railroad workers settled Crookston first. At Hill's behest, a long tradition of learning how to "farm smart" started with the Northwest School of Agriculture in 1906. Facing a short growing season, farmers stayed close to the soil and invented better implements to harvest the area's bounty. The tradition of improving technology continues from the century-old practices begun at the Experiment Station. Currently, precision agriculture is taught at the University of Minnesota, Crookston's "laptop university." Familiar family names from Crookston's retail sector have prevailed throughout the farmers' cycle of boom and bust. Many other talented personalities shine through, especially those skilled in sports and music. Also included in this volume are unsung heroes for their acts of kindness and volunteerism.

During the twentieth century, several million rural inhabitants of Vietnam's northern delta made the decision to move home, seeking new space for themselves in the country's highlands. Their decisions and the settlements they created had wide-ranging effects on their home communities and on the people and environment of their destinations. Many migrations were made in response to policy decisions made in Hanoi, first by the French colonial authorities and later by Vietnam's independent socialist states. This ground-breaking study of the settlements of Vietnam's highland regions offers a historical analysis of and provides profound insights into the political economy of migration both in Vietnam and elsewhere. the Vietnamese highlands, as settlers from the plains turned the hills 'red'. Placing people's experiences in the context of government policy and national history, this book explores their anticipations, difficulties, achievements and disappointments, high-lighting the geopolitical importance of the highlands. The study can be read as a contribution to migration studies in South-east Asia, but also as a grassroots history of 20th-century Vietnam. Written in a lively reading style and illustrated by numerous maps and photographs, this study promises to become a classic in Vietnamese historical studies.

Georger Armstrong Custer’s death in 1876 at the Battle of the Little Big Horn left Elizabeth Bacon Custer a thirty-four-year-old widow who was deeply in debt. By the time she died fifty-seven years later she had achieved economic security, recognition as an author and lecturer, and the respect of numerous public figures. She had built the Custer legend, an idealized image of her husband as a brilliant military commander and a family man without personal failings. In Elizabeth Bacon Custer and the Making of a Myth, Shirley A. Leckie explores the life of "Libbie," a frontier army wife who willingly adhered to the social and religious restrictions of her day, yet used her authority as model wife and widow to influence events and ideology far beyond the private sphere.