'Fierce Winds and a Blank Whiteness': The Culture of Dakota Winter, 1870-1915

This thesis argues that accommodation to winter was an important — though not the only — response of early Dakotans to the annual challenges and hazards of winter. It examines first the challenges of winter, then what Dakotans did to protect themselves from and even profit from the season, then the ways that Dakotans spoke in positive ways about their winters or, using winter, themselves.