Black Powder, Gray Hope: Vengeance — Softcover, 1st Edition

Historical Fiction | Dakota War of 1862 | Civil War

Originally published in 2010 as Black Powder, Gray Hope: Vengeance, this first-edition novel by Minnesota author Marty Duncan follows fictional characters whose lives intersect with the events of the Dakota War of 1862 and the American Civil War.

Kelsey, a feisty Irish lass is captured and thrown among the 260 white women who were abused and threatened with death by Dakota warriors. She is, in her mind, damaged goods and needs to learn how to trust men. Her rescuers include Ransom Purdy, a debonair man about town, an agent-spy for Grant’s Army. His good friend Patrick Harant is a brave but naïve Union volunteer. Fate throws them together; the Civil War keeps them apart.

The Dakota War (orig title Vengeance) is the untold story of the 1862 Uprising of the Dakota (aka Sioux) in Minnesota in which 1600 white settlers were killed. It is the story of Patrick Harant, a young man who escapes prison in Louisiana; it is the story of Kelsey O’Welin who escapes an abusive father.