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The Minnesota

2001
•
Author:

Evan Jones
Illustrations by Harry Heim

The Minnesota

A fascinating depiction of the lives led along this major American river.

The Minnesota River has provided the scenery for many of the state’s important historical events-the Dakota Conflict (also known as the Sioux Uprising of 1862); the only blunder of Jesse James’s career; and the origin of selling goods on credit by Sears, Roebuck and Company-and hosted many famous faces, including Dred Scott, Zebulon Pike, and Henry David Thoreau. Evan Jones provides a detailed history of the river and its legends in The Minnesota.

Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage Serie

Evan Jones grew up along the bank of the Minnesota. He is steeped in that region’s song and story. His book is a sentimental journey down the Minnesota’s past, but the sympathy is well spent. This prose is as supple and strong as the river itself and the Jones eye scans the epoch-making nineteenth-century scene with colorful insight and loving care.

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Kirkus

Starting at Big Stone Lake on the eastern edge of South Dakota, the Minnesota River cuts through southern Minnesota, breaks into waterfalls at Granite Falls, and joins the mighty Mississippi at Fort Snelling, St. Paul. Evan Jones provides a detailed history of the river and its legends in The Minnesota.

The river has provided the scenery for many of Minnesota’s important historical events—the Dakota Conflict (also known as the Sioux Uprising of 1862); the only blunder of Jesse James’s career; and the origin of selling goods on credit by Sears, Roebuck and Company—and hosted many famous faces, including Dred Scott, Zebulon Pike, and Henry David Thoreau. Illustrated with line drawings by Harry Heim, The Minnesota weaves an unforgettable history.

The Minnesota

Evan Jones (1915–1996) was born in Le Sueur, Minnesota. A writer of American history and cookbooks, he is the author of The Citadel in the Wilderness (also published in paperback by University of Minnesota Press), Trappers and Mountain Men, Epicurean Delight: The Life and Times of James Beard, and The L. L. Bean Book of New England Cookery.

The Minnesota

Evan Jones grew up along the bank of the Minnesota. He is steeped in that region’s song and story. His book is a sentimental journey down the Minnesota’s past, but the sympathy is well spent. This prose is as supple and strong as the river itself and the Jones eye scans the epoch-making nineteenth-century scene with colorful insight and loving care.

—

Kirkus