"Up and down the river the willow leaves are just unfolding, bordering the stream with tender green. The tassels of the pussy willows, which were white in March, are now rosy and gold, due to the development of the anthers. The aspens at the front of the wood are thickly hung with the long yellowish-white tassels and look like masses of floss silk among the tops of the darker trees. A big cottonwood is at its most picturesque period in the whole year. Spring seems to unfold her beauties slowly but she has something new each day for the faithful." "Some Spring Days in Iowa" is a novel dedicated to the natural scenes witnessed in rural Iowa during the spring season. Author and nature lover Frederick John Lazell waxes lyrical about the season, infusing poetry into the vivid scenery he describes.

compiled and written by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for the state of Iowa ; sponsored by the State Historical Society of Iowa to commemorate the centenary of the organization of Iowa territory.

Originally published during the Great Depression, The WPA Guide nevertheless finds much to celebrate in the heartland of America. Nearly three dozen essays highlight Iowa's demography, economy, and culture but the heart of the book is a detailed traveler's guide, organized as seventeen different tours, that directs the reader to communities of particual social and historical interest.

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. The rolling hills between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers are home to the Midwest’s Hawkeye State, faithfully cataloged in the WPA Guide to Iowa. Stressing the agricultural roots and varied crops grown throughout the state, this guide includes many pictures depicting the lives of Iowa farm workers in the 1930’s.

Henry Lafayette Dodge has long been a familiar name in 19th century American Southwestern history. As one of the earliest and most effective Indian agents to the Navajo, he has been portrayed as a congenial, sympathetic and compassionate advocate for the tribe—a veritable role model. The Navajo knew him as Red Shirt, a man they came to respect, appreciate and trust. Those who knew Dodge admitted, although often grudgingly, that he had unrivaled influence over the tribe. By today’s sensibilities, Henry L. Dodge was hardly a role model. In his youth, he was irresponsible, hot-headed and violent. As an adult, he was sued for assault and battery, land fraud, breach of promises and misuse of public funds. He apparently couldn’t be trusted with money, his own or others’. Finally brought down by scandal, he fled Wisconsin in the dead of night, abandoning his career, his wife and his children, leaving them nearly destitute. How then should history assess him? Honestly: precisely as he was, an ambitious and imperfect man. The honest telling gives a straightforward account of not only Henry L. Dodge, but what became the veritable mythology of the West, from the bawdy old French Missouri river towns to the raucous lead mining districts of southwest Wisconsin, through the slaughter of the Winnebago and Black Hawk wars to the invasion of New Mexico and the chaos of the Indian frontier; it is a gritty personal tale of the true West.