Product Description

Land of the Buffalo Bones is the diary of Mary Rodgers, known as Polly. Promising religious freedom and fertile land, Polly's father, Reverend Rodgers, moves their Baptist community from England to the Minnesota prairie. After a treacherous journey across

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #280168 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 221 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780439220279
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Booklist
Gr. 4-8. This Dear America book is unusual in that it is based on real people and events in 1873. Bauer's great-grandfather Reverend Rodgers led his family and congregation from England to Minnesota, the jumping-off point for this fictional diary, narrated by Rodgers' oldest daughter, Polly, age 14. The long and unpleasant voyage and the settlers' horror at their barren and inhospitable new land are vividly set down, and it is the latter that forms the backbone of Polly's story. She describes the family's sod house, the ineptness with which the town-bred English attempt to build and farm, and the endless oppressive heat, unendurable cold, and plagues of locusts. No wonder the settlers eventually vote to reject their pastor! Accompanied by photos of the Rodgers family and scenes of the settlement, this is an engrossing look at the hardships faced by many pioneers. Eva Mitnick
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A Family Story Retold
Land of the Buffalo Bones is the story of Polly Rodgers, a young girl whose father is a Baptist minster who organizes 80 religously persecuted Baptists in Yeovil, England, to colonize the Minnesota Territory in the New Yeovil Colony. Although the advertisments and her father's false words tell of a wonderful and bountiful country, the 80 colonists come upon a surprise when they reach the colony--which isn't built, is covered in snow, and is in the middle of nowhere with no trees or parks or houses or anything of the sort that was promised. After the grueling ship ride over, this hardship is even worse. Soddies are built quickly for the many families, as is one for the Rodgers, since their father is not expected to work with his hands. However, all the land brings is despair. Locusts attack and destroy the crops that the first time at farming colonists grow, Polly's best friend's family is destroyed with the death of the mother and brother and the runaway of her best friend to be married to a Native American. However, the land brings Polly and her step-mother closer together and many of her other family members, despite Laura's constant pesturing. However, even though her father is taken away from his position as minister and the Rodgers must move onto a new colony, they leave happy and together, knowing they will make it.
This diary is based on the author's family, the Rodgers, and was an interesting and treasuring contribution to the series. Although I would recommend Love Thy Neighbor more out of the two new books, this diary was still very good, very unique, and worth you time.

Five Stars
A very interesting Dear America story. American history is filled with different religious groups who come here this one is about Mary Ann Elizabeth Rodger also know as Polly who comes to America from England where her father and his congregation moves from England to Minnesota. Notihng goes as her father had planned. The voyage was terrible and the land in Minnesota was barren and only thing they could afford to live in are sod homes. Polly experiences the freezing Minnesota winter and the hot summers and insects. All Polly can think about is everything that was better back home andall they used to have. The congregation ends up rejecting their reverend and her family heads off to find a new home. I thoroughly enjoyed this book which is based on the writer's own family experience it also reminded me of my own experiences. I've spent a lot of time in Minnesota and could easily relate to the freezing winters and the hot summers filled with insects. Polly, her father and family reminded me of my own great-grandfather and his family. His father was also reverend in our family. It was fun reading a story about someone else's family while being reminded through out the story of my own.

A good new Dear America book.
Mary Ann Elizabeth Rodgers, called Polly by her family, is the fourteen-year-old daughter of a Baptist minister. She was born and raised in England, but now her father has decided to move the family to Minnesota in search of religious freedom. Polly begins her diary on the journey by steamship to America and describes the challenges her family and friends face on their journey to their new home, challenges that do not end once they reach Minnesota. The Rodgers and their fellow settlers face the bitter cold of winter and the scorching heat of summer, endless blizzards, a disastrous plague of locusts, as well as illness and death.

Land of the Buffalo Bones is an excellent addition to the Dear America series that described the hardships of life on the prairie in the 1870s. It is unique among the books of the series in that it is based on the life of a real person from the author's family. I recommend this book to all fans of the series.