Tales from the Territory are stories about what it took to tame the land that is now known as South Dakota. The Dakota Territory was formed on March 2, 1861 about six weeks before the Civil War began. It remained a territory until November 2, 1889 when it was split into North Dakota and South Dakota. The stories show the strength of its settlers and of those who chose to make a home there. There are stories of the men and women who did what was necessary to make it a safe place to raise a family. There are stories of those who came to the territory to seek their fortune, and of those who simply wanted more than they had in the east. It tells of lawmen who struggled to bring law and order to the land. There is a story of a mail-order bride who found happiness in spite of all her fears to move west to marry a man she had never met. The stories in Tales from the Territory are fictional, but show what it took to make a new life for themselves in a wild and open land. This book is one of several short stories books by J.E. Terrall about the taming of the West.