Until exceeded by the tragic events of September 11, 2001, a little-known occurrence on the northern frontier would represent the highest number of civilians - perhaps as many as 800 - ever killed by hostile action on American soil.

This is the story of a major Indian war that exploded suddenly in the relatively settled region of southern Minnesota in 1862 - a conflict that has come to be known as the Minnesota Uprising - and over the months that followed extended far west into the vast reaches of the Great Plains.

Interspersed in that broader tale is the true-life story of members of three families brought together in the chaos of war by remarkable circumstances. Compiled from detailed family records, photographs, and correspondence, Fire in the North chronicles their triumphs and travails during this exceptional period in American history.

Though often lost in the shadow cast by the cataclysmic events of the Civil War raging at the same time, the conflict along America's frontier is an important episode in our history and deserves the detailed recounting that Fire in the North so aptly provides.