Karl Jakob Skarstein

The War with the Sioux: Norwegians against Indians 1862-1863

Out of print

Translated Melissa Gjellstad and Danielle Skjelver
With contributions from Dakota Goodhouse and Richard Rothaus

The Dakota War (1862-1864) ranks among the most overlooked conflicts in American History. Contemporary with the American Civil War, the Dakota War featured significant fighting, tactical brilliance, and strategic savvy set in the open landscape of the Northern Plains in Minnesota and North Dakota.

Karl Jakob Starstein’s The War with the Sioux tells the story of the Norwegian immigrants, American soldiers, and Lakota and Dakota Indians as they sought to protect their ways of life. Translated from Norwegian and supplemented with new introductions by Melissa Gjellstad, Richard Rothaus, and Dakota Goodhouse, this work draws upon newly studied sources in Norwegian for life on the Northern Plains during these tumultuous years. Skarstein’s work makes an important, new contribution to the growing body of scholarship on this conflict and offers an accessible and surprisingly intimate view of the conflict from the perspective of Norwegian settlers in the region.