A native Minnesotan, Paul Hedren retired from the National Park Service in 2007 after nearly thirty-seven years as a park historian and superintendent at such storied places as Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Wyoming, the Golden Spike National Historic Site in Utah, and the Niobrara National Scenic River in Nebraska. Paul is also a lifelong writer and the author of scores of scholarly and popular articles plus eleven books, with stories largely focusing on the Great Sioux War of 1876-77 and particularly that conflict’s subtleties and consequences. Paul’s won numerous writing awards including a Spur from the Western Writers of America, the Vivian Paladin Award from the Montana Historical Society, and the Herbert Schell Award from the South Dakota State Historical Society. In 2011 his book After Custer: Loss and Transformation in Sioux Country won a prestigious Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, and also the Sills Book Prize from the Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association.