Abraham Lincoln: A Western Legacy reveals how the sixteenth president shaped the country beyond the Mississippi River. Having grown up on the frontier and taken part in its political development, Lincoln often turned his attention westward after becoming president. By overseeing policies such as the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railroad Act and making key political appointments, Lincoln opened American Indian lands to settlers who forever changed the landscape and laid the foundation for the region’s modern politics and identity.

Author Richard W. Etulain focuses on Lincoln’s role in remaking the West while providing a concise overview of his life. He also advances Lincoln scholarship by looking at efforts to memorialize the president in the decades following his assassination. Etulain’s original research, including his use of correspondence between local figures such as Senator Peter Norbeck and historian Doane Robinson, provides unique insight into the discussions that led to Lincoln’s immortalization on a mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The 2023 South Dakota History Conference, "Great Faces, Great Places-History Makers in South Dakota" will be presented in Pierre, SD at the Ramkota Hotel on April 21-22, 2023. The Saturday Awards Luncheon speaker is Joseph Bottum of Hot Springs and Dakota State University.

Please contact us directly at the information below if there are any special needs during the conference (dietary, access, etc).

Refund Policy: Cancellations made after April 5, 2023 will not be refunded. All refunds will be processed after May 1, 2023.

All registrations are for tickets numbers, the dollar amounts will be calculated and totaled during the registration checkout.

Tempe Javitz, author of Bighorn Visions: The Western Photography of Jessamine Spear Johnson will present via zoom.

A link to purchase the book will be provided once the book is in stock.

Nancy Tystad Koupal, editor of Pioneer Girl: The Path into Fiction, will present via zoom.

A link to purchase the book will be provided once the book is in stock.

World War One is the event that set the stage for the modern world and transformed the United States from an isolationist promised land to a crusading state, willing to go to war for ideological reasons. “From Wentworth to the Western Front” examines the war front and the home front of World War One from the perspective of the Private John Warns family correspondence. The story that emerges reveals the dramatic extent to which rural America was drawn into the maelstrom of events surrounding World War One. Author Rich Loftus will present via zoom.

Matthew Reitzel from the South Dakota State Archives will present on his article about Earl Neller and six kids hitchhiking across South Dakota in 1933. This article was published in the Fall 2022 South Dakota History Journal.