The Greatest Generation
Candace Simar Reads Greatest Generation Our veterans deserve the best. During my nursing career I cared for veterans from all of America’s 20th century wars. I even knew one patient who served in the Spanish American War as a young teen who lied about his age. I was pleased when KAXE Radio out of […]
Red River Ox Cart at the Grant County Museum in Elbow Lake, Minnesota
It’s difficult to imagine that simple wooden carts pulled by oxen could settle a territory but they did. The Red River ox carts brought goods from Canadian settlements and the northern plains down a long trail to pioneer St. Paul, Minnesota. The carts, filled with supplies and furs, stretched across the prairies in long […]
1863 Murders at Fort Pomme de Terre after Sioux Uprising
This week marks the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the Fort Pomme de Terre murders. Union solders were stationed at the newly-built Fort Pomme de Terre, after the 1862 Sioux Uprising. Letters from homesick soldiers talked of the monotony of the isolated outpost along the Pomme de Terre River between present-day Elbow Lake and Ashby, […]
Farming Seems Easy
“Farming seems easy when your plow is a pencil and you are a thousand miles from the corn field.” -Dwight Eisenhower I laughed today when I read this quote. I’ve done a lot of research about early farming practices and immigrant life. My historical novels tell of the Herculean efforts required to get a foothold […]
Grant Application Successful
Last fall I had a very interesting consult with Springboard for the Arts, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help artists make a living at what they love. The consultant suggested several things I could do to promote my writing career. One suggestion was for me to write a Five Wings Art grant to […]
Fort Pomme de Terre 1863
The U.S. Army hastily put up a fort around the stage station at Pomme de Terre immediately after the 1862 Sioux Uprising. The goal was to provide back up support to Fort Abercrombie farther west in Dakota Territory. Fort Pomme de Terre was a small garrison consisting of troops marched in from Fort Ripley in […]
150 Years Ago Today
One hundred fifty years ago thirty eight Dakota warriors were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, in the largest mass hanging in U.S. history. Three hundred and three braves were condemned to death by a military tribunal at the close of the 1862 Dakota Conflict. Bishop Henry Whipple gathered information proving most were innocent. He contacted President […]
Scandinavian Christmas Recipes
When I think of Christmas, I remember the Scandinavian foods from my childhood: Krumkakke (a round crispy tube cooky), lefse ( soft flat bread made from potatoes and served with brown sugar and butter), pickled herring, lutefisk with melted butter, fattigmand (poor man’s cookies), and klub (potato dumplings with bits of salt pork in the […]
Talking Writing
Yesterday I visited two high school classes in Pillager, MN, and shared my work and writing journey. What joy to find fellow writers among the students. When it comes to writing, age no longer matters. A writer is a writer is a writer. I was still flying high after my morning with the English and […]
Scandinavian Heritage
A Texas friend wrote me after seeing photos of the Minot Hostfest on my Face Book page. She commented that she felt envious about my Scandinavian roots and how we celebrated our traditions with such enthusiasm. I had never thought of this before. My Scandinavian heritage, like my large extended family, is something I’ve always […]