Description
Book SynopsisThe Battle of Birch Coulie was the decisive battle in the deadly Dakota War of 1862. In
Birch Coulie John Christgau recounts the dramatic events surrounding the battle. American history at its narrative best, his book is also a uniquely balanced and accurate chronicle of this little-understood conflict, one of the most important to roil the American West.
Trade Review"[
Birch Coulie is] a dramatic narrative that students of frontier and Minnesota history will wish to read closely."—Gilbert Taylor,
Booklist“
Birch Coulie is a great re-telling of a great story.
Birch Coulie accurately captures not only the events leading up to this historic battle, but also the emotions of its participants. Christgau seems to understand the depth of Dakota frustrations that produced one of the most determined Native attacks on US troops in all of American History.”—Carl Colwell, LTC U.S. Army (Ret.), director of the Renville County (Minnesota) Historical Society and director of the Minnesota Valley History Learning Center
"Christgau's book is essential reading on the 150th anniversary of the largely forgotten, under-taught war that he describes as "a brutal collision of two worlds and cultures." —Curt Brown,
Minneapolis Star Tribune"John Christgau has captured the facts of the 1862 war and the battle at Birch Coulie in a way that brings them alive to the reader."—Gary Revier,
Minnesota's Heritage Table of ContentsPreface
Author's Note
1. Private Robert K. Boyd
2. Red Iron
3. Little Crow
4. Gray Bird
5. Gaboo
6. Colonel Sam McPhail and Lieutenant Sheehan
7. Dr. Daniels
8. The Messenger
9. Little Paul
10. Epilogues
Acknowledgments
Sources