Calumet Editions

Twisting Trails

North Star Kids of the Fur Trade Era

Book 1 of 3: The North Star Kids

Twisting Trails is a young adult historical adventure set on Minnesota’s northwest frontier during the fur trade (1831–1837). Alexander Whitney, a fictional Fort Snelling soldier, and Angelique Reaume, a Métis girl with Ojibwe and French-Canadian roots, meet and form a bond amid real history and famous figures of the era. Their travels range from Fort Snelling to Lake Itasca, maple sugar camps and wild rice beds, the Red River Trail bison hunt, and the Dakota pipestone quarry—culminating in Mendota during the Treaty of 1837 negotiations.

brilliantly synthesizes a compelling fictional adventure story with nonfictional historical personalities and events

—Haderslev. Review on Amazon

Description

Twisting Trails is a unique young adult historical novel about two teenagers from different cultures who meet on the northwest frontier during the heyday of the fur trade (1831-1837). Their adventures weave through a cast of famous Minnesotans from that era. Alexander Whitney is a fictional Fort Snelling soldier who meets Seth Eastman, Henry Schoolcraft, Samuel and Gideon Pond, Henry Sibley, Joseph Nicollet, and Dred Scott.

Angelique Reaume is a fictional Metis daughter to a French-Canadian voyageur and Ojibwe mother. She is related to the famous Native leader Flat Mouth, and crosses paths with George Bonga, Pierre Bottineau, Joseph Renville, and Lawrence Taliaferro. The teenagers develop a relationship amid adventures which take them from Fort Snelling up the Mississippi River to Lake Itasca. From an Ojibwe maple sugar camp to wild rice beds. Up the Red River Trail on a Metis bison hunt. To the Dakota’s sacred pipestone quarry via the Minnesota River. Finally, to Mendota, where Natives and Whites negotiate the Treaty of 1837.

Product Details

PublishedDecember 14, 2021
ImprintCalumet Editions
LanguageEnglish
Print length240
ISBN-139781950743711
Dimensions6 x 0.6 x 9 inches

<em>Twisting Trails</em> by Michael Barnes is a delightful Young Adult novel containing pre-statehood Minnesota historical figures. We follow young soldier Alexander Whitney from Ft. Snelling to Lake Itasca to Leech Lake to the Minnesota River on a number of adventures as he meets and interacts with actual figures from state history. The book contains detailed and honest history of the territory’s early years and interactions with Native Americans.

—Barbara Parrish, review on Amazon

If you’re wondering how to introduce young adult readers to the excitement and adventure of real-life Minnesota history, this is it. Author Michael Barnes brilliantly synthesizes a compelling fictional adventure story with nonfictional historical personalities and events. Kids drawn to the genre of the fictional adventure story will discover the genre of nonfictional history as no less exciting and full of adventure. Adult readers will also be entertained by the interplay between the two narrative modes.

—Haderslev. Review on Amazon