Hans Goodwater Olufsen
When Danish immigrant soldier, Hans Olufsen, heads west in1856 seeking land of his own, he meets and marries an Indianwoman named Little Feather. They settle in the SheyenneRiver Valley of what is now North Dakota. Together theynegotiate many disputes and settlements between the whiteman and the Indians.Hundreds of whites are killed during the Minnesota SiouxUprising of 1862. Hans must use artillery skills that he learnedin the Danish army to defend Fort Abercrombie. When somethree hundred Indians are imprisoned and condemned to death,Hans and Little Feather go to Washington, D.C. with a preacherto plead for President Abraham Lincoln’s intervention. Lincolnfrees all but thirty-eight of the Indians, of whom one is LittleFeather’s nephew.Following the Civil War, Hans and Little Feather return home,where Little Feather teaches prairie survival and English to theimmigrant women. But after the massacre of General Custer andhis troops in 1876, the community turns against Little Featherand her children. This social upheaval threatens to destroy allthat Hans and Little Feather have worked so hard to create. ItJust Didn’t Happen tells the story of their adventurous and lovinglife together.
