In July 1881, Sitting Bull crossed the boundary between the United States and Canada to surrender, weary of pursuit by the U.S. cavalry and the constant threat of starvation to his people. As Sitting Bull became the last Indian to give up his arms, the region opened up to the fur traders, then the railroad men, and finally the settlers, determined to make a living in this remote and difficult prairie. But the unforgiving landscape would resist repeated attempts to measure and control it -- by the explorers Lewis and Clark, entrepreneurs like railroad magnate Jim T. Hill, and border refugees like Chief Joseph and the Metis hero Louis Riel -- ultimately to defeat them all. Relying extensively on the diaries, letters, and autobiographies of these intrepid pioneers, as well as interviews with the descendants of settlers and Native Americans who lived there, Beth LaDow has written an immensely rich and colorful history of a place and an insightful meditation on the challenging theme of national identity.