MSU Press will be attending the 2026 Midwestern History Conference located at the Shriver Center at Miami University of Ohio from Thursday, April 30th to Friday, May 1st. We will be showcasing our Michigan and midwest related books, such as the newly released Retracing the Dragoon Trail in Iowa: Environmental Transformation along the Des Moines River by Kevin T. Mason.
In Retracing the Dragoon Trail in Iowa, historian Kevin T. Mason presents a vivid and deeply researched account of Iowa’s evolving landscape, beginning with the 1835 expedition of the First U.S. Dragoons. Drawing from archival records, maps, government surveys, Indigenous histories, and ecological data, Mason explores how Iowa’s prairies and wetlands gave way to farms, towns, and transportation networks. He situates these environmental shifts within the broader forces of Manifest Destiny, military expansion, and settler colonialism, while amplifying the voices of the Sauk, Meskwaki, Dakota, and other Indigenous nations whose histories are often marginalized.
But Mason doesn’t just write about history—he walks it. His 371-mile journey retracing the original dragoon route across Iowa blends scholarship with storytelling, captured through video essays, photography, and writing. This modern-day trek, featured on Iowa PBS’s Iowa Life and Iowa Public Radio’s Talk of Iowa, brings the past into the present, offering a compelling look at how landscapes remember. The result is a powerful contribution to environmental history, regional studies, and Indigenous scholarship—one that reveals the layered interactions between land use, policy, and historical change.
Use code MSU30 for 30% off and free shipping on conference titles.
| Title | Author | Price | Sale Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Lakes Ships of Frank E. Kirby, The | Gebhart | $29.95 | $20.97 |
| Greatest Scientific Gamble, The | Joseloff | $34.95 | $24.47 |
| Many a Hand | Rosentreter | $39.95 | $27.97 |
| Retracing the Dragoon Trail in Iowa | Mason | $34.95 | $24.47 |
| Title | Author | Price | Sale Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Place in Common | Marrero & Sturtevant | $44.95 | $31.47 |
| Accidental Reef, The | Heasley | $27.95 | $19.57 |
| As Sacred to Us | Morseau | $24.95 | $17.47 |
| Bkejwanong Dbaajmowinan/Stories of Where the Waters Divide | McGahey II | $24.95 | $17.47 |
| Dead Moose on Isle Royale | Holden | $24.95 | $17.47 |
| Detroit’s Hidden Channels | Marrero | $29.95 | $20.97 |
| Environmental Ethics in the Midwest | Smith & Ferkany | $44.95 | $31.47 |
| Forever in the Path | Dagbovie | $49.95 | $34.97 |
| Forging Identity | Draus & Nielbock | $29.95 | $20.97 |
| Founding Mothers of Mackinac Island, The | Weller | $32.95 | $23.07 |
| French and Indians | Englebert & Teasdale | $25.95 | $18.17 |
| Great Women of Mackinac | Croghan | $37.95 | $26.57 |
| Half Wild | Dempsey | $27.95 | $19.57 |
| Imprints | Low | $29.95 | $20.97 |
| Indigenous Journeys, Transatlantic Perspectives | Brígido-Corachán | $39.95 | $27.97 |
| Manoomin | Barton | $29.95 | $20.97 |
| Mémoires of Michilimackinac | Brandao | $54.95 | $38.47 |
| Michigan Salvage | DuRose, Tangedal & Oler | $39.95 | $27.97 |
| Michigan’s Company K | Cassidy | $44.95 | $31.47 |
| Ottawa Stories from the Springs | Webkamigad | $24.95 | $17.47 |
| Our Precious Corn | Webster | $34.95 | $24.47 |
| Reconciliation in a Michigan Watershed | Heffner & Warners | $29.95 | $20.97 |
| Roy Reuther and the UAW | Reuther | $39.95 | $27.97 |
| Sail, Steam, and Diesel | Hirisimaki | $79.95 | $55.97 |
| Something Spectacular | Tanner | $25.99 | $18.19 |
| This Magnetic North | Mulherin | $34.95 | $24.47 |
| Tribal Administration Handbook | Webster & Bauerkemper | $39.95 | $27.97 |
| Visiting Mackinac | Boles | $37.95 | $26.57 |
| We Kept Our Towns Going | Wong | $19.95 | $13.97 |
| Western Journals, The | Lewis | $49.95 | $34.97 |
| Wilderness, Water and Rust | Elder | $39.95 | $27.97 |
| Wrecked | Nelson & Podair | $29.95 | $20.97 |