"Vikings of the Prairie" was written by my uncle Norris Hagen and is described on eBay by a seller (Item No. 14018206211) as follows:" This book is a portrait of the author's parents as pioneers in North Dakota and, in larger sense, of all such early settlers and of the State itself. Vikings of the Prairie, in conversations between N. C. Hagen's mother and father and a friend of long standing, tells the early twentieth-century history of the Flickertail State, particularly in the northwestern area. It also offers an authentic picture of how the early settlers thought and lived in the course of their struggles to tame an unfriendly wilderness, and givers overdue recognition to the quiet and stoic (though often humorous) heroism of a people whose truly remarkable exploits have been neglected because they were not conceived in the usual Western tradition of gun smoke and cattle towns. Finally, it evaluates the contributions of the pioneers of the Dakota prairies to the development of the United States. The relentless enemy of these settlers was weather. They were plagued by snowstorms, droughts and tornadoes. Also important to them were methods of farming, and the book contains illuminating discussions of the relative merits of oxen, horses and tractors. Vikings of the Prairie is not only an accurate and compelling picture of some men and women who helped to make America great, but a valuable piece of Americana of more than regional interest! "
My sister Jane Hagen Freeman has written and published a book on watercolor techniques: "A Celebration of Light: Painting the Textures of Light in Watercolor". It's available online at Amazon books and other fine booksellers. You can see her work on her website: www.janefreeman.com
