Overview

"In 1871, Sarah Cole and her family left the Mauston, Wisconsin, area after the hops market crashed and headed for western Minnesota and a new beginning. Sarah left a written account of this adventure by prairie schooner. The account, passed down through three generations, is a precious legacy. Like her great-grandmother, Marla Kay Houghteling, the fifty-two-year-old author, begins a traveling adventure. She moves from Pennsylvania to Michigan, her home state, and soon meets a man who will become her second husband. Together they follow Sarah Cole's trail in a Toyota Camry as they make their own plans for a new beginning, including building a house on twenty-three acres in Michigan's ""tip-of-the-mitt."" Readers with an interest in upper Midwest history, and the details of daily life in the post-Civil War era, will be drawn to Sarah Cole's account. And readers who have made or are thinking about making a mid-life change will find a like-minded soul in the author's account."

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9781958363317

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This is a fascinating and detailed account, brimming in the history of 19th century Wisconsin and Minnesota.... It is also the personal memoir of a writer with deep attachment to the storied, natural world. Readers will delight in Houghteling's insightful and often humorous observations, and-upon reading the final page-agree that she has [left] behind a legacy as valuable as that of her pioneer family. -Linda S. De La Ysla, MFA, MS, Ph.D. Associate Professor (retired), English Dept. Community College of Baltimore County An accomplished poet, Houghteling's prose is tight and quick-moving, painting both her great-grandmother's journey and her own in vivid hues. The reader emerges with a deeper understanding of 1870s pioneer living, including house-building, child-rearing, unexpected joys and tragedies, and family ties both strained and strengthened. -Dr. Mark Blaauw-Hara, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy, University of Toronto Mississauga In The Road to Pelican by Marla Kay Houghteling, we follow the author's journey to retrace her family's historic path as they emigrated from Wisconsin to Minnesota in 1871. This meticulously researched book follows Houghteling's great grandmother, Sarah Moore Leonard Cole, and some of her close family, as they made this long and arduous trip to their new home. Interspersed with this historical story is the author's account of her own transplantation as an adult, and the ways it mirrored her ancestors. The strength of familial bonds, the act of carrying these bonds on through the act of writing (Sarah's poetry of her life and journey), carry throughout this remarkable book. -Mary Beauchamp, Reference/Collection Development Librarian, Petoskey District Library The Road to Pelican was an inspiring book with a unique story. Ms. Houghteling has woven a fascinating narrative that is a delight to read. The way the author traces the threads of the past while walking in her ancestors' footsteps helped to ground the story in the larger state and nation-wide context, while still maintaining a heartfelt, personal and relevant feeling. I recommend this book for anyone interested in history, genealogy and for those looking for the inspiration to dig deeper into their own pasts. -Beth Wemigwase, Program Coordinator, Harbor Springs Area Historical Society

Author Information

Marla Kay Houghteling spent the first eight years of her life in Walkerville, Michigan. Having lived in Florida, Illinois, West Africa and Pennsylvania, she returned to Michigan and settled in Harbor Springs. She has written two books of poems: The Blue House and Assisted Living. Under a grant from MCACA, she wrote an historical novel, The Journey of Aurora Starr.

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