|
C. M. Wendelboe
C. M. Wendelboe entered the law enforcement profession when
he was discharged from the Marines as the Vietnam war was
winding down.
In the 1970s he worked in South Dakota towns bordering three
Indian reservations. He spent the initial one-third of his
career working the streets as well as assisting federal and
tribal law enforcement agencies embroiled in conflicts with
American Indian Movement activists in other towns and on
other reservations, including Pine Ridge.
He moved to Gillette, Wyoming, and found his niche, where he
remained a sheriff’s deputy for over twenty-five
years. In addition, he was a longtime firearms instructor
with his agency, as well as an instructor at the local
college and within the community.
He had served successful stints as police chief, tactical
team member, and other supervisory roles for several
agencies during his thirty-eight year career in law
enforcement—yet he always has felt most proud of
“working the street.” He was a patrol supervisor
when he retired to pursue his vocation as a writer.
Wendelboe now revisits the Pine Ridge and Rosebud
Reservations for research and recreation. He lives within a
morning’s drive of Devils Tower, Bear Butte, the Black
Hills, and the Badlands—“tourist sites”
that are sacred places to the Lakota people. The distance of
geography and expanse of time has accorded him an
appreciation of their culture and spirituality. His
developing awareness of their diverse perspectives on
historical and contemporary issues is reflected in the
themes of his Spirit Road Mysteries.
Books:
Death on the Greasy Grass, June 2013
Death Where the Bad Rocks Live, September 2012
Death Along the Spirit Road, March 2011
|
