Pacing Dakota

by Thomas D. Isern

From the Author: It might have been called My Life on the Plains, but that title was taken. Pacing Dakota came together as a collection of sketches, drawing on radio scripts written and read weekly on statewide public radio (Prairie Public) under the title, Plains Folk. Somewhere in the process, as the author graduated from writing transitions to adding reflections, looking back on forty years as a working historian and regional author, the work crossed the line into the domain of memoir. The narrative transitions from the close confines of historical archives into the prairie landscapes of the northern plains. It speaks with the mingled voices of scholarly historian, outdoor sportsman, culinary enthusiast, lifelong Lutheran, and prairie farmboy. The author prowls prairie churches, finds forgotten artifacts, and gathers cherished stories from Williston to Wahpeton and points beyond. He situates his encounters along the way into the canon of literary and historical writing on the prairies. In the end, he speaks for a generation born and raised on the Great Plains of North America and committed to making a good life in this place. Pacing Dakota has won the 2019 gold medal (a.k.a. an IPPY) for midwestern nonfiction from the Independent Publisher Book Awards and is the 2019 award winner for western nonfiction from the Independent Press Book Awards. The work also was named Book of the Month, July 2019, by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Genres: Nonfiction

264 pages, Hardcover

First published July 10, 2018

About the author

Professor of History & University Distinguished Professor, North Dakota State University
Author & presenter of Plains Folk on Prairie Public radio (and NPR One)
Author & presenter of the Willow Creek Folk School, livestream at facebook.com/plainsfolk
Married to historian & editor Suzzanne Kelley
Home in North Dakota, farm in Kansas
Bethany Swede
OSU Cowboy
NDSU Bison
Originator of the following Goodreads Listopia lists:
*The Dakota War in Dakota Territory
*German-Russian Country
Goodreads group manager, "Great Plains Book Club"

Join Prof. Isern for the Willow Creek Folk School, Fridays at 8pm Central, on the Facebook timeline of Plains Folk.

Plains Folk - listen and read at Prairie Public, or download the NPR One app, search for Plains Folk, and subscribe.

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

“... I travel the Great Plains landscape a lot. The landscape is a library, and as I often say, there is a story up every section road.”

Eighteen years ago I read Tom Isern’s “Dakota Circle” and liked it. In that book he told stories of the people he met and the places he had been. They were real stories about real people and real places. I noted then that Tom is an excellent writer who does not get in the way of a story. Now, Tom has taken a deeper dive. He has gone into the regional archives at North Dakota State and using diaries, comments on calendars, notes, letters and more he introduces us to people who came before in North Dakota. But this book is more than just sorting through and compiling stories from the archives. Tom has “walked the walk” so to speak or perhaps better said had driven the highways and byways. In other words, he has gone to the places these people lived, felt the good earth there, and has seen and touched many of the things that they left behind. These experiences give Tom unique qualification to resurrect and tell the stories of those who came before.

Tom picks interesting people to write about. There are people like the Reverend Oscar Elmer. Tom goes through Reverend Oscar’s diary held in the archives at North Dakota State’s Institute for Regional Studies. He finds much that is fascinating including a recounting of a very cold winter wedding at which the good Reverend officiated. It was so cold that “all the mustaches in the party had icicles hanging to them one and two inches long.” Another very interesting character is Haile Chisholm, the Blacksmith scholar. Haile was not only a great blacksmith and teacher, he appreciated life’s finer things and “never regretted a dollar spent for loveliness.” There are many more stories about the people who populated North Dakota and other areas on the Great Plains. Without giving any more away, I note that I particularly enjoyed reading about that period of time from 1893 to 1899 when Fargo was the divorce capital of the United States.

I do not want to sound as if this is is light reading material. It is not. It is real life and real history of real people as only Tom Isern could tell it. His life has been dedicated to study of the Great Plains. But, that is only part of the reason this book is compelling. Tom is a fine student of history, but he is an equally fine student of good literature. When he speaks of the cold that the Reverend Oscar endured it brings to mind the cold the Shimerdas endured in “My Antonia.” When Tom speaks of the piece of flint he carries from the Knife River Flint Quarry and other artifacts there you very well suspect that he might just have had that dump in Eastend, Saskatchewan that Wallace Stegner wrote about in “Wolf Willow” in the back of his mind. And finally, the influence of another great writer who wrote of the Plains is there; namely, Scott Momaday. Momaday has a clear spiritual dimension and a reverence for his Kiowa landscape on the Great Plains. That reverence for things spiritual and the landscape is evident in Tom’s writing also. It comes across in several places, for example when he talks about the Mucha of Pisek: Saints Cyril and Methodius and the wayside crosses that Polish settlers put out. More importantly, Tom has Momaday’s appreciation for the importance and power of words in our spoken and written landscapes. Tom writes in clear, distinct, and evocative prose. Through his words you hear Oscar Elmer, Haile Chisholm and others speak.

Finally, there are moments in the book that just flat choked me up. One example is when Tom recounts the sharing of the light at Canaan Moravian Brethren Church. I am not even going to attempt to describe what Tom experienced there. I will say that I had to stop reading for a bit because tears blurred my vision.

Yup, words have power.

Going back to the opening lines, there is a story up every section road. Thankfully, Tom has gone up those roads, found these stories, and put them here for us.

[Heather Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Isern: A quick note to thank you, again, for writing such a breathtaking ode about our Plains folk. My parents were in town watching our kids while we scrambled-- juggling our start of school and waiting for theirs. My mother picked up your book, next to my reading chair, and couldn't put it down. She wanted me to pass along her highest of compliments: "He is an incredible writer!" Now, I will note, not to take this compliment lightly. She was my college composition I and II professor, and just retired from her Provost position last year. She's tough to impress!:)

[DDM · Rating 5 out of 5]

This brought back a lot of memories of the many bike tours I took while I lived in ND for 25 years. Those tours took me to places I would probably have never gone, I'd heard a lot of the stories the author repeats in this book. He really has a great voice, so the audio format is better. If you need to know about anything from mock weddings to red eye, these stories are great.

[John Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, Tom Isern, a historian at North Dakota State University in Fargo, expands on radio vignettes he does for Prairie Public radio to explore life in rural parts of the Plains, primarily North Dakota, but also from his home state of Kansas. Living across the river from Fargo, I once took a community education class from him on Wallace Stegner and his book, WOLF WILLOW. In each of the nine chapters, he expands on the stories to explore bigger themes of his role as a public historian by digging into the archives, talking to people, or visiting many of these places. His style is very conversational. I wish the stories and themes had moved beyond just European-Americans and explored Native life more. I felt like the stories worked well but the larger themes did not come through as well. Still, it is an enjoyable read for those of us who live in these parts.

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Born and raised in ND and then living here for a large chunk of my adult life, this book brought back memories and also made me realize how much I still don't know about my state or this region we wall the Great Plains.

[Slhardwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so enjoyed spending time with Dr. Isern and the people of the prairies while reading this book. It will always be home.

[Kathy KS · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Tom's style of writing, as well as his passion for the Great Plains and the value of small towns. Even though I'm a lifelong Kansan, much of what he writes here is totally relatable. And I now want to return to North Dakota to see some of the communities he tells us about. Highly recommended to those enjoying history and geography of rural places, especially in the Great Plains, as well as those that enjoy a easy, breezy writing style with humor.

Borrowed from out-of-state interlibrary loan.