Uprising Saga

In Uprising, Dean Urdahl has crafted a story about Min­nesota's 'war within a war' in the Minnesota River Valley during the autumn of 1862. His saga is enriched by unfolding . . . on an even broader background beginning with the bloody battle of Shiloh in the spring of 1862 and carrying his main character, Nathan Thomas, from there to Minnesota where he participates in an extraordinary number of adventures during the six-week ethnic earthquake variously known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Conflict, and the Dakota War. In casting Nathan as his central figure and relating him to the two theaters of conflict during the great battles of Second Manassas, Antietam, Corinth, and others in the East . . . he adds meaning and depth to the power of his story. Steeped in the history and lore of the area in which he lives and knows well, Urdahl has given us an absorbing story about human tragedy, heroism, and survival by ordinary folks on a grand scale during a clash of cultures whose legacy still lives with us today.

On August 17, 1862, four young warriors hungry and resentful over broken treaties, unkempt promises, and mistreatment had murdered five white settlers near Acton in central Minnesota. This isolated and random event swept like wildfire ravaging the prairie. From the agency reservations to Fort Ridgely to towns and settlers cabins, the rampage spread from the Minnesota River Valley and spilled onto the prairies north and south of the river. Hundreds of whites were killed. Much of western and southern Minnesota was depopulated. The question became, how many had been killed, how many leftnever to return, and what would be done in retribution?

Pursuit follows both Uprising and Retribution, the previous two books in the Dakota uprising series and... takes us from the hangings in Mankato to the tragic outcome of the attempted genocide of the Dakota people. In this book, the author meticulously follows the course of events of the subsequent wars and expulsions that characterized the most unforgivable chapter in our history and which are still felt with great bitterness by the Dakota descendants...

Conspiracy tells the story of the final pursuit of the Dakota by Minnesota soldiers into the Dakota Territory following the U.S. Dakota War of 1862. It follows the experiences of Jesse Buchanen as he is called from the frontier to report to Washington, D.C., to become one of President Lincoln's guards. Jesse discovers a wide conspiracy that threatens Lincoln and the preservation of the Union. He also uncovers a dark secret that could destroy the government if it is revealed.