In this autobiography, Riggs describes his life as a Christian missionary to the Dakota beginning in 1837 at Lac qui Parle (Minnesota) and for the remainder of his life in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. As missionaries, he helped create a written language for the Dakota. The second section entitled "Monographs" includes writings by various people who worked within the missionary field.

"Born in Minnesota in 1845, the daughter of a prominent mixed-ancestry Dakota family, Angelique Renville (1845-1876) learned traditional Dakota ways of life from her relatives while navigating the complex multi-cultural world of the declining fur trade. At age six, along with her younger sister Agnes, she was formally adopted by Protestant missionaries Stephen and Mary Riggs, who did their utmost to erase her Dakota identity and educate her as a 'proper'...