ABOUT THIS BOOK

In 1830, a young woman named Juliette Magill Kinzie moved from her fancy home in Connecticut to a rustic log cabin in what would later be called Wisconsin. Juliette lived there with her husband, John, who worked as an Indian agent at Fort Winnebago, one of Wisconsin’s earliest settlements. While living at the fort, Juliette came to know the Indian communities that called the land home, as well as the non-Indian settlers who were moving in. She later wrote a best-selling book about her experiences, Wau-Bun: The ‘Early Day’ in the Northwest, an important first-person account of life on the frontier.

This new biography in the Badger Biographies Series turns the lens on the writer herself, detailing her life as she detailed the lives of those she encountered in the 1830s and 1840s. Juliette Kinzie: Frontier Storyteller details war, hunger, and the rapidly changing times Juliette witnessed on the Midwestern frontier, following the pioneering woman through her own changes from socialite to pioneer to famous writer and even to the work of her granddaughter, Juliette Gordon Low, who founded the Girl Scouts of the USA in 1912.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Kathe Crowley Conn has worked in education, public programming, institutional management, and philanthropy for thirty years. Her interest in the history and ecology of the Midwest began during a childhood spent roaming the lakeshore and open fields near Chicago and became a hallmark of her term as president and executive director of the Aldo Leopold Nature Center in Madison. She founded Nature Net: the environmental learning network to foster a love of the land and the thrill of discovery in children throughout the state. She resides in rural Rock County with her family.

REVIEWS

Juliette Kinzie: Frontier Storyteller is an interesting, well-written, and meticulously researched book about an American woman few people have heard of. The biography...includes details of 1800’s frontier life, the Indians’ diverse cultures, as well as the struggles between the Whites and Indians. I recommend this book to be purchased by public librarians as well as elementary, middle school, and high school librarians.I was pleased to see the author had included a time line, glossary, index, a Reading Group Guide with Activities, an acknowledgement, and a short book list of Wisconsin Indian Tribes. The words in the glossary are some of the words from the text that appear in bold type. (Karen J. McWilliams, http://independentpublisher.com/)

Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie (September 11, 1806 - September 15, 1870) was an American historian, writer and pioneer of the American Midwest. "Juliette Kinzie: Frontier Storyteller" by Kathe Crowley Conn is part of the Wisconsin Historical Society Press series 'Badger biographies' and tells the story of how in 1830, a young woman named Juliette Magill Kinzie moved from her fancy home in Connecticut to a rustic log cabin in what would later be called Wisconsin. Juliette lived there with her husband, John, who worked as an Indian agent at Fort Winnebago, one of Wisconsin's earliest settlements.... Enhanced with the inclusion of black-and-white historical photos, this deftly written biography is specifically designed for children in grades 4 to 6. Very highly recommended for both school and community library Children's American Biography collections, it should be noted that "Juliette Kinzie: Frontier Storyteller" is also available in a Kindle edition. (James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review, Children's Bookwatch, April 2015)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

1. Meet Juliette

2. Growing Up in Connecticut

3. A Partner in Adventure

4. Traveling to the New Frontier

5. Arrival at Fort Winnebago

6. Life among the Ho-Chunk

7. Traveling to Chicago

8. A Family Visit

9. News of Trouble: The Black Hawk War

10. A Difficult Winter

11. Beginning of a “New Day”

Appendix: Juliette’s Time Line

Glossary

Reading Group Guide and Activities

To Learn More about Indian Life in Wisconsin

Acknowledgments

Index