First published 1996
The early 1900s brought waves of hopeful settlers to the brutal Plains of Montana and the Dakotas. Armed with government promises of 320 free acres, these homesteaders arrived with little more than wagons, mules, and twenty-five dollars in their pockets. Railroad companies painted rosy pictures of prosperity. Bankers offered easy credit. Agricultural scientists promoted new dry-land farming techniques that seemed to promise abundance from the stark, arid soil. Americans and Europeans alike believed they could build something lasting in this unforgiving landscape. They came seeking transformation, convinced they could put down roots and thrive where others had failed. But the Plains had their own plans. The collision between human ambition and natural reality would test every dream these settlers carried with them into the badlands.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, non-fiction, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, man-vs-nature
Setting: Montana, Dakotas
Period: Early 1900s
324 pages · Hardcover · Pantheon