Woodard to speak at October Conference

Professor Aaron R. Woodard, VHS and USD graduate and former Vermillion resident will be the keynote speaker at the 15th Annual West River History Conference in Rapid City, Oct. 11-13.

The conference theme is "The Mountain Man and Other Explorers of the West." Professor Woodard is a regional expert on the fur trade and the author of Soft Fur and Iron Men – A History of the Fur Trade in South Dakota and the Upper Missouri. Professor Woodard's speech, "The Fur Trade and the Development of the West," will focus on the impact of the fur trade and of mountain men in South Dakota and western history.

Professor Woodard teaches American history and American and world government at Kilian Community College in Sioux Falls. He is the son of Gloria Poling Woodard, also formerly of Vermillion.