Outskirts Press, INC.

How can one draw a picture of the taming, of a new Land?

Whatever possessed folks to come to a wild and untamed country where the Indian had so recently held sway. It was the people that made the difference. What made them stick with it? No place for a tender foot. Those of sterner stuff stayed. They had come for homes and neither hell nor high water could prevail against them. Come to think of it, maybe that’s what some kids lack now. No new worlds to conquer. No great responsibility or challenge to dig in for all they’re worth. Experiences on the Prairie: The story of Andrew and Jeannie was told to Audrey (Bainum) Kinzie and her siblings for years. As they matured and reached late mid-life they wanted the story of their parents written down to preserve the everyday history of the pioneers that so many are forgetting. Audrey already into her sixties by the time she started to write the story worked on it until her death in 1982. The writing was filed away until years later when her daughter in law Beverly Kinzie picked it up and re-read it again. At the time she was working on another book Early Woods County. Upon its completion she once again picked up Audrey’s story to edited it and submit for publication.