High Forest (ePub)

High Forest is a work of historical fiction relating the story of one family's migration into Minnesota Territory in the 1850s. It is set among the backdrop of such historical events as the Mormon immigration to Salt Lake, the Civil War, the Dakota Wars, the influx of European migration, and the power of the railroads in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The family must persevere despite the normal difficulties of pioneer life, as well as their country being torn apart by civil war, and the threat of their very annihilation by those whose land had been taken from them to provide the very land these pioneers had settled on. They must contend as well with their own flaws as well, which include unbridled passion, ambition, intrigue, deception, and treachery. Follow the story of the town of High Forest from the high hopes at its first settlement in the mid1850s through its rise and ultimate decline into a ghost town within seventy years. Among those making cameos in this drama are Laura Ingles Wilder, Ulyssis S. Grant, the Drs. Mayo, founders of the world-famous Mayo Clinic, and Richard Sears, the founder of mercantile giant Sears Roebuck.

John D. Russell is a retired school teacher living in Southern California. Though primarily a short story writer, he has written this work of historical fiction based on stories told to him of his pioneer Minnesota ancestors when he was young. Once he grew up, he began to research into these stories to test their veracity. Not only did he find that most of the stories were true, but he uncovered many more fascinating details about the lives of these pioneer ancestors that made their stories even more compelling, making American history come alive and more personal in the telling.