Fort Abercrombie is one of my happy places. The historical site is a North Dakota treasure with its rich history and natural beauty. My great grandfather drove the stage to the fort in the 1860’s, and inspired the Abercrombie Trail Series. It’s hard to believe the peaceful spot was once a battlefield between the U.S. and Dakota. The U.S./ Dakota war occurred in 1862, between the Civil War battles of Shiloh and Antietam. The Union was losing that summer, and resources needed for the Civil War robbed the Sioux of their treaty payments. The result was over the earth I come, all-out war, by the Dakota against the United States.
The Abercrombie Trail Series and Follow Whiskey Creek tell the tragic story through the eyes of Scandinavian immigrants. Birdie (book 3 of the Abercrombie Trail Series) won the Spur Award in Juvenile fiction. Follow Whiskey Creek (previously published as Escape to Fort Abercrombie) won the Will Rogers Gold Medallion in juvenile fiction.
I worked hard to wrap a good story around the historical facts of that time and place, creating painless history lessons about the Civil War, US/ Dakota War, Shiloh, Dakota history, Minnesota history, Scandinavian immigrants, and North Dakota history.
