People of the Troubled Water – A Missouri River Journal

People of the Troubled Water
153 Pages
Renaissance House
ISBN 1-55838-083-3

People of the Troubled Water focuses on stories of people involved in early years of Missouri River history. It describes the adventures of explorers Lewis and Clark, trappers John Colter and Hugh Glass, artist George Catlin and scientist John James Audubon. The Hidatsa girl, Waheenee, finds her life forever changeed by smallpox, and Mormon wife Jane Richards struggles to keep her faith through an incredible winter.

The Missouri's raging waters changed nearly everyone who challenged them. It was a barrier to some, an unwilling highway for others. It was the near shore of the West, , the baptism into a land where all the canons were new, and the people who attempted coexistence found both paradise and perdition. Some created their own legends. Others simply coped with the life he Missouri dealt them and vanished, leaving the stories of their trials and triumphs to sink or surface as they would in the current of Missouri history.

The book is large format, 8 1/2 x 11, and is generously illustrated by artist Asa Battles, who is of Choctaw descent. The Overland Journal described the book as "a joy to read."

Nancy Mayborn Peterson

About Nancy Mayborn Peterson (Denver, Colorado Author)

Nancy Mayborn Peterson

Nancy M. Peterson has been an award-winning author for over 40 years. She has authored four books of Western history set during the frontier era, which author/reviewer Sandra Dallas has labeled "classics." People of the Moonshell illustrates Platte River history. It was followed by a two-volume history of the Missouri River. Her historical focus is always on the individual's experience.

Her fourth book, Walking in Two Worlds; Mixed-Blood Indian Women Seeking Their Path, is a collection of biographies celebrating the accomplishments of these women, whose fathers were trappers and mothers Native Americans.

Nancy grew up in Scottsbluff in the North Platte Valley and now lives in Centennial. She is active in national and local writers' organizations and her church. Hobbies include reading, gardening, dancing, and enjoying nature.