Minnesota's early territorial days were exciting and filled with hope for the future, but many dreams were broken before they were ever realized as settlers met untimely deaths in tragic ways. The St. Croix earned its nickname the River of Graves when watercraft were dashed against hazards like Death Rock. Torrential downpours flushed settlers from their dwellings, while diseases such as cholera and E. coli were imminent threats. And those whom Mother Nature did not destroy or defeat still had to contend with their fellow pioneers. Take a read on frontier life in the St. Croix River Valley with over fifty stories of adventure, including horse-and-buggy road rage, scalp dances and land disputes settled by war. Ken Martens is an avid historian and both a researcher and Civil War re, enactor. He currently serves as a board member and vice-president of the Afton Historical Society and Museum.  Ken graduated from Stillwater High School in 1973 and has spent most of his life living in the St. Croix River Valley.