Desert Hawk Books

 

Pioneer Women
The Lives of Women on the Frontier

by Linda Peavy, Ursula Smith

 

144 pages
Paperback

Quantity:  $19.95& S/H

 

Pioneer Women provides a rare look at frontier life through the eyes of the pioneer women who settled the American West. Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith vividly describe the hardships such women endured journeying west and making homes and communities on the frontier. Their hopes and fears and, most of all, their courage in the face of adversity are revealed in excerpts from journals, letters, and oral histories. Illustrated with a fascinating collection of seldom-seen photographs, Pioneer Women reveals the faces as well as the voices of women who lived on the frontier.

The authors portray a wide variety of women, from those who found liberty and confidence in undertaking "men's work" to those who felt burdened by the wind, the weather, and the struggle of frontier life.

"This patchwork of women's words and pictures captures the pioneer experience memorably and elegantly. Just as a quilt is made up of many small pieces, this books is based on a multitude of individual stories and a rich range of source material. The authors stitch the pieces together skillfully and unobtrusively, presenting us with an overall picture that is both detailed and sweeping in its design. This is a book to enjoy and learn from. Like an heirloom quilt, this is a book to be treasured."--Susan Armitage, coeditor of The Women's West and Writing The Range