Press Release

TO: Print & electronic media

FROM: Friends of Ladbury Church & NDSU Center for Heritage Renewal

RE: Ladbury Lectures 2006

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A program about the Sibley Expedition of 1863 leads off the 2006 Ladbury Lecture Series at 6:00 PM Saturday, September 9. The program, as well as the others in the series, will take place at the old Ladbury Church (4 miles W, 1 N, ½ W of the Sibley Crossing of Lake Ashtabula).

Presenter of the free public program the evening of September 9 is Chandice Johnson, founding director of the Center for Writers at North Dakota State University. Johnson explains that following the 1862 Dakota Conflict in Minnesota, General Henry Hastings Sibley led a military excursion into what is now North Dakota. Johnson focuses on the literature—newspaper accounts, magazine articles, diaries, and journals—related to the expedition to capture the personal side of this historic event.

Programs are held in the church. Scholarly presentations take place in informal manner, with attendees invited to join discussions and ask questions. Attendees are welcome to come early and picnic on the grounds.

Of local note: near Ladbury Church are a Daughters of the American Revolution monument to the Sibley expedition and also the grave of Kristian Peterson, one of Sibley’s soldiers who died on the trail.

“It seems to me,” remarks Johnson, “that while the expedition itself was a waste, it set the stage for a lot of violence that wasn’t necessary.”

The Ladbury Lectures are supported by a grant from the North Dakota Humanities Council. Additional support is provided by the Center for Heritage Renewal, North Dakota State University.

For further information: Tom Isern, 701-799-2942, isern@plainsfolk.com