Candace Simar's Blog, page 14

       It’s difficult to imagine that simple wooden carts pulled by oxen could settle a territory but they did.  The Red River ox carts brought goods from Canadian settlements and the northern plains down a long trail to pioneer St. Paul, Minnesota.  The carts, filled with supplies and furs, stretched across the prairies in long... [Continue Reading]

   Reading Lauraine Snelling’s Red River of the North Series back in the 1990s gave me permission to celebrate my Scandinavian roots.  I remember the euphoric feeling I experienced when I read about her characters’ immigration to America and their subsequent struggle to get established in Minnesota and North Dakota.  Her stories reminded me of... [Continue Reading]

This week marks the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the  Fort Pomme de Terre murders.  Union solders were stationed at the newly-built Fort Pomme de Terre, after the 1862 Sioux Uprising.  Letters from homesick soldiers talked of the monotony of the isolated outpost along the Pomme de Terre River between present-day Elbow Lake and Ashby,... [Continue Reading]

“Farming seems easy when your plow is a pencil and you are a thousand miles from the corn field.” -Dwight Eisenhower I laughed today when I read this quote.  I’ve done a lot of research about early farming practices and immigrant life.  My historical novels tell of the Herculean efforts required to get a foothold... [Continue Reading]

Last fall I had a very interesting consult with Springboard for the Arts, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help artists make a living at what they love.  The consultant suggested several things I could do to promote my writing career.  One suggestion was for me to write a Five Wings Art grant to... [Continue Reading]

The U.S. Army hastily put up a fort around the stage station at Pomme de Terre immediately after the 1862 Sioux Uprising.  The goal was to provide back up support to Fort Abercrombie farther west in Dakota Territory.  Fort Pomme de Terre was a small garrison consisting of troops marched in from Fort Ripley in... [Continue Reading]

One hundred fifty years ago thirty eight Dakota warriors were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, in the largest mass hanging in U.S. history.  Three hundred and three braves were condemned to death by a military tribunal at the close of the 1862 Dakota Conflict. Bishop Henry Whipple gathered information proving most were innocent.  He contacted President... [Continue Reading]

When I think of Christmas, I remember the Scandinavian foods from my childhood: Krumkakke (a round crispy tube cooky), lefse ( soft flat bread made from potatoes and served with brown sugar and butter), pickled herring, lutefisk with melted butter, fattigmand (poor man’s cookies), and klub (potato dumplings with bits of salt pork in the... [Continue Reading]

Yesterday I visited two high school classes in Pillager, MN, and shared my work and writing journey.  What joy to find fellow writers among the students.  When it comes to writing, age no longer matters.  A writer is a writer is a writer. I was still flying high after my morning with the English and... [Continue Reading]

A Texas friend wrote me after seeing photos of the Minot Hostfest on my Face Book page.  She commented that she felt envious about my Scandinavian roots and how we celebrated our traditions with such enthusiasm. I had never thought of this before.  My Scandinavian heritage,  like my large extended family, is something I’ve always... [Continue Reading]