Authors Kari Lininger-Downs and Janice Rustad Lininger
Bowen: An Unfinished Life, a new historical biography by mother-and-daughter authors Janice Rustad Lininger and Kari Lininger-Downs, tells the story of their grandfather and great-grandfather, Murrel K. Bowen, which often mirrors the popular Yellowstone prequel, 1923.
In the Summer of 1919, M. K. Bowen was tragically shot and killed at his North Dakota ranch. Although the four men responsible were known, only one was tried, and no one was convicted of his murder.
Bowen’s ambition led him to become the largest landowner in his township, a prominent community leader, and an early member and advocate of the Nonpartisan League political party, which fought against corporate powers that diverted much of the value of crops and livestock away from farmers and ranchers. In parallel with that broader fight, the Bowens faced sabotage and vandalism at home. The wealth he had toiled years to build was quickly eroded by cattle poisoning, theft, and trespassing on his grazing lands at the hands of jealous neighbors.
The Bowens’ story encompasses a 360-degree view of many hallmarks of this “brackish” time in North Dakota and American history when modernity came to the Wild West—social unrest and progressive politics, the brutal and beautiful life of a homesteading family, and the nearly unlimited opportunities available on the raw Great Plains.
While gun-toting and even murders were fairly common in those years, Murrel’s murder captured the attention of the entire state of North Dakota, given his connections with political leaders at every level. That notoriety often overshadowed the plight of the widow and seven children he left behind.
Bowen: An Unfinished Life is available in paperback and digital versions on Amazon.com.