Eastman, Mary H. (Mary Henderson), 1818-1887

Nineteenth century author.

Born in Virginia and raised near Washington, D.C., Mary Henderson Eastman married artist and army officer Seth Eastman at West Point in 1835. In 1841, Mary Eastman accompanied her husband to Fort Snelling on the upper Mississippi River. Residing there seven years, Mrs. Eastman learned the Sioux language and tribal customs and legends, which she wove into literary romances. Eastman's first book, Dahcotah, which her husband illustrated, appeared in 1849, and its success encouraged her literary career. She published further volumes of Indian tales (1853-1855), a fictional response to Uncle Tom's cabin (1852), and sentimental fiction on other subjects (1856-1879).

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