Description
In 1884, twenty-three-year-old Corabelle Fellows left her family in Washington, DC, and journeyed out West to teach Native children in Nebraska and Dakota Territory. She hoped her missionary work would improve the lives of the Dakota and Lakota Sioux people by helping them assimilate into white culture, following the predominant government policy at the time. But after years of living among the Native people, it was Cora's perceptions of life, love, and faith that were transformed. It began with her friendship with Elizabeth Winyan, a remarkable Dakota woman who was a model of strength, compassion, and adaptability among her people. Winyan became a maternal figure for Cora in the strange land so far from the "civilized" city. She even saved Cora from being married against her will.
Then Cora met Sam Campbell, a man from Scottish and Sioux stock. They fell in love and were married, though the match made national headlines after Cora's family disowned her. The couple struggled to find a place in the American frontier, straddling two worlds. For years their marriage was grist for the yellow press, and they became a sensational national story that led them to a brief stint as a sideshow attraction for traveling exhibitions and dime museums to support themselves. They would never live happily ever after, and the couple was plagued by racist rhetoric and sexist slander even after their divorce.
Life Painted Red details Cora's experiences from her Washington, DC, exodus to her years living among the Sioux, and her scandalous, short-lived marriage to Sam Campbell.
Author: Chuck Raasch
Publisher: Two Dot Books
Published: 09/01/2023
Pages: 266
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.87lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.60d
ISBN13: 9781493074136
ISBN10: 149307413X
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Women
- History | Indigenous Peoples in the Americas
- History | United States | State & Local | Midwest(IA,IL,IN,KS,MI,MN,MO
About the Author
Chuck Raasch is an author and retired journalist. He was a national correspondent for USA Today, where he was one of its original cover story writers. He was a national correspondent for Gannett News Service and had bylines from 49 states and five continents. A graduate of South Dakota State University, Raasch completed a journalism fellowship at Stanford University, and is a member of the National Press Club and the Gridiron Club. He leads tours for the Smithsonian Institution, and lives in the Washington, D.C., area.