TEACHER'S READING LIST
 

Draine, Cathie, ed. Cowboy Life: The Letters of George Philip. Pierre: South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2007. George Philip’s memoirs, written in the form of letters to his adult children, tell of his experiences as a cowboy in South Dakota.

Fosha, Rose Estep, and Liping Zhu. Ethnic Oasis: The Chinese in the Black Hills. Pierre: South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2004. The history and archaeology of the Chinese in Deadwood are explored here.

Hamilton, William H. Dakota: An Autobiography of a Cowman. Pierre: South Dakota Historical Society Press, 1998. A pioneer rancher describes his life in the Cave Hills area of northwestern South Dakota in the 1880s and 1890s.

Kant, Joanita, ed. "The Dakota Years of Alex C. Johnson: A Memoir." South Dakota History 21 (Winter 1991): 380-431. A former vice-president of the Chicago & North Western Railway recalls his experiences as a homesteader and trainmaster in Dakota.

Kohl, Edith Eudora. Land of the Burnt Thigh. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1986. Kohl writes of her life as a homesteader and newspaper printer in Lyman County in the early 1900s.

McDermott, John D. Red Cloud: Oglala Legend. Pierre: South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2015. This biography looks at the life of the warrior and diplomat who won a war against the United States.

McLaird, James D. Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane: Deadwood Legends. Pierre: South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2008. McLaird examines the facts and fiction that turned these two Wild West wanderers into dime-novel and motion-picture stars.

McNeely, Marian Hurd. The Jumping-Off Place. Pierre: South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2008. Four young  homesteaders strive to succeed on a quarter section in Tripp County, South Dakota, at the beginning of the 1900s.

Mills, Rick W. The Milwaukee Road in Dakota. Hermosa, S.Dak.: Battle Creek Publishing Co., 1998. This book is a general overview of the operations of the Chicago, Milwaukee & Saint Paul Railroad in North and South Dakota.

Miller, John E. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little Town: Where History and Literature Meet. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1994. Miller focuses on events that shaped the writing of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Nelson, Paula. After the West was Won: Homesteaders and Townbuilders in Western South Dakota, 1900-1917. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1986. Nelson gives a solid but readable history of the settlement of South Dakota west of the Missouri River.

Rasmussen, Jane Torness, and John S. Rasmussen, eds. Dear Unforgettable Brother: The Stavig Letters from Norway and North America, 1881–1937. Pierre: South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2013. This book presents a lifetime of letters between two brothers, one who immigrated to South Dakota, and the other who stayed in Norway.

Riley, Glenda. "Farm Women’s Roles in the Agricultural Development of South Dakota," South Dakota History 13 Spring/Summer 1983): 83-121. Riley examines the lives of women homesteaders and farm wives.

Sanderson, Nathan. Controlled Recklessness: Ed Lemmon and the Open Range. Pierre: South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2015. This book looks at a key figure in the development of cattle ranching in South Dakota.

Siberts, Bruce. Nothing but Prairie and Sky: Life on the Dakota Range in the Early Days. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988. This book tells the story of a western South Dakota rancher in the period before homesteaders arrived.

Slatta, Richard W. Cowboys of the Americas. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990. Slatta explores cowboy life in both the United States and Latin America.

Taylor, Betti VanEpps. Forgotten Lives: African Americans in South Dakota. Pierre: South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2008. This book provides insights into the often-neglected history of African Americans in South Dakota.

Wilson, Norma C. and Charles L. Woodard, eds. One-Room Country School: South Dakota Stories. Brookings, S.Dak.: South Dakota Humanities Foundation, 1998. Nearly one hundred South Dakotans share their stories of the one-room school experience.

Young, Harry. Hard Knocks: A Life Story of the Vanishing West. Pierre: South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2005. Young recounts his memories of living in the Wild West  including the murder of Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood.