Natives of a Dry Place

By Richard Cluff Edwards

Before the oil industry transformed western North Dakota, the natives of Stanley went about their normal, everyday lives. For generations, inhabitants of this wheat-growing region developed a combination of resoluteness, steadfastness, devotion to the community, and ever-present modesty. Contrasting these values with the trials of the modern oil-boom community, author Richard Edwards examines the old town's virtues through the stories of those who built and sustained a community on the dry, open plains in the twentieth century. A deeply personal look at a small North Dakota town, Natives of a Dry Place focuses on a not-so-distant past and takes readers on a journey of reflection to a time before big oil. Edwards uses his experience as both a historian and an economist to delve into the overarching questions of what makes a community and how it survives during times of upheaval.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1941813046
• ISBN13: 9781941813041
• Release Date: September 2015
• Publisher: South Dakota Historical Society Press
• Length: 121 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.5"