Not permanently settled until after the Civil War, Swift County was one of the last frontiers of the United States. Once part of the vast prairie land occupied by the Dakota Indians, settlement began in the 1860s. The Swift County Historical Society has compiled over 200 vintage images in order to capture a glimpse of the region's formative years-the establishment of its trading centers and industries, as well as the educational, spiritual, and social lives of its early settlers.

Located in west central Minnesota, the small rural towns of Swift County were once busy trading centers. Through these historic photographs, the reader can follow the changes that occurred on Atlantic and Pacific Avenues in Benson from the 1880s to the 1930s, see the sod house of Swenoda Township, and witness turn of the century rural life in towns like Danvers, Murdock, Appleton, and Kerkhoven.