Joseph Mills Hanson

Born in Yankton, Dakota Territory, on July 20, 1876, Joseph Mills Hanson was an American author, historian, and army officer. He studied at schools in the East, including St. John’s in Manlius, New York, and after school spent about eight years working as a salesman for the Otis Elevator Company before moving fully toward writing.

His breakthrough came with The Conquest of the Missouri in 1909, a biography of steamboat captain Grant Marsh that became his most successful book. He also wrote poetry, articles, and later works connected to war and history, including books on World War I and Civil War battlefields.

Hanson’s life reached well beyond the page. He served with the South Dakota National Guard on the Mexican border and in World War I, where he worked at General John J. Pershing’s headquarters and wrote battle histories for Stars and Stripes. Later he joined the National Park Service, contributing to preservation work at major Civil War sites and serving as superintendent of Manassas National Battlefield Park before his retirement. He died on February 11, 1960.