Juliette Magill Kinzie, Wau-Bun: The ‘Early Day’ in the North-West. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1856.

An excellent frontier narrative, written and illustrated by a woman historian, Juliette Kinzie. In 1830, she and her husband John Kinzie moved to Detroit and then Fort Winnebago, a new trading post located near present day Portage, Wisconsin, where he was an Indian sub-agent to the Winnebago people. She provides a vivid account of everyday life on the frontier, recounted her trip to Fort Winnebago, travel to Chicago in 1831, and the experiences of her family members during the Sauk War of 1832. The book includes details of a diverse frontier society, including Native Americans, whom she portrayed sympathetically. It is illustrated with engravings made from Kinzie’s watercolors.

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