Humans have lived in the St. Croix River watershed for thousands of years. Starting with Native Americans who arrived as soon as the glaciers receded, to the European trappers, traders, loggers, and farmers who later settled in the area, these resources share the stories and experiences of the people who have called this region home.
The St. Croix: Midwest Border River (Rivers of America)
James Taylor Dunn
An essential title for the upper elementary classroom, “Native People of Wisconsin” fills the need for accurate and authentic teaching materials about Wisconsin’s Indian Nations. Based on her research for her award-winning title for adults, “Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Survival,” author Patty Loew has tailored this book specifically for young readers.
Cecilia: The Trials of an Amazing Ojibwe Woman
Lafayette Connor
Cecilia is the story of an Ojibwe Woman struggling to survive the economic and social changes occurring throughout Indian communities in Northwestern Wisconsin and Northeastem Minnesota. The story contrasts traditional Native American culture against the impact of diseases on Indian communities, the confusion surrounding the 1854 treaty at La Pointe, the impact of the Civil War, the effect of the Sioux uprising, and more.
History of the Ojibway People
William W. Warren
William W. Warren’s History of the Ojibway People has long been recognized as a classic source on Ojibwe History and culture. Warren, the son of an Ojibwe woman, wrote his history in the hope of saving traditional stories for posterity even as he presented to the American public a sympathetic view of a people he believed were fast disappearing under the onslaught of a corrupt frontier populaton. He collected firsthand descriptions and stories from relatives, tribal leaders, and acquaintances and transcribed this oral history in terms that nineteenth-century whites could understand, focusing on warfare, tribal organizations, and political leaders.
North Woods River: The St. Croix River in Upper Midwest History
Eileen M. McMahon and Theodore J. Karamanski
North Woods River is a thoughtful biography of the river over the course of more than three hundred years. Eileen McMahon and Theodore Karamanski track the river’s social and environmental transformation as newcomers changed the river basin and, in turn, were changed by it. The history of the St. Croix revealed here offers larger lessons about the future management of beautiful and fragile wild waters.
St. Croix Trail Country. Recollections of Wisconsin.
William Gray Purcell
From 1887 to 1901 William Gray Purcell spent every summer with his grandparents at their Island Lake summer home. At the time, it was largely an unsettled wilderness, heavily forested, and inhabited mainly by Indian families, few woodsmen, and wildlife. Purcell recalls the joy of living in this natural setting and recounts stories he heard around the campfire of the experiences of Indians and pioneer settlers out West.
Border Country: The Northwoods Canoe Journals of Howard Greene, 1906–1916
Martha Greene Phillips
In the summer of 1906, a Milwaukee man set out with his sons and friends to canoe and camp in the north woods of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Canada. It was the first of several month-long journeys “The Gang” would make over the years, each detailed in handmade journals and documented in large-format photographs. Introduced and annotated by Greene’s daughter, these observant narratives run rapids and portage and paddle lakes and rivers.
The Man from Clear Lake: Earth Day Founder Senator Gaylord Nelson
Bill Christofferson
On Earth Day 1970 twenty million Americans displayed their commitment to a clean environment. It was called the largest demonstration in human history, and it permanently changed the nation’s political agenda. By Earth Day 2000 participation had exploded to 500 million people in 167 countries. The idea of a day to focus on protecting our natural environment was that of of U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.
Fifty Years in the Northwest
W.H.C. Folsom
Fifty Years in the Northwest is an account of the adventures of W.H.C. Folsom, a pioneer who lived in present day Minnesota and Wisconsin in the early 19th century.
St Croix River Road Ramblings: Stories of the Wisconsin St. Croix River Valley
Russell B Hanson
Stories from the backwoods by a 4th generation St Croix River Valley resident. Farm, hunting, local history, nostalgia laced with subtle humor and wit.
Lost Farms of the St. Croix Valley
Kristina Boucher
Lost Farms of the St. Croix Valley explores the history of the region, shares the photographs and stories of local farmers, and evaluates why the traditional family farm is falling by the wayside.
Under a Flaming Sky
Daniel Brown
Author Daniel Brown has woven together numerous survivors’ stories, historical sources, and interviews with forest fire experts in a gripping narrative that tells the fascinating story of one of North America’s most devastating fires and how it changed the nation.
The Emigrants: The Emigrant Novels: Book I
Vilhelm Moberg
Vilhelm Moberg created this series to portray the joys and tragedies of daily life for early Swedish immigrants in America. Moberg’s extensive research in the papers of Swedish emigrants in archival collections enabled him to incorporate many details of pioneer life. This reprint with an introduction written by Roger McKnight, introduces a party of Swedes fleeing the poverty, religious persecution, and social oppression of Småland in 1850.
