Dan R. Manning has written several scholarly works which have appeared in SouthwesternHistorical Quarterly, and Military History of the West. Other articles have appeared in Texas Ranger Dispatch, Missouri Life, Ozarks Mountaineer, American West, Old Mill News, and Farm Collector magazines. Through research and personal experience, Dan has gained knowledge about 19th century grist milling techniques, early agricultural machinery and methods, including the raising and training of draft horses and mules. Dan's most heart-felt project, which he has spent three decades researching and writing, is the biography of John James Dix, his wife's great, great grandfather. Dan was raised in a Central Kansas farming community, and now resides with his wife, Betty, in the Missouri Ozarks.