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.
| Preface | 6 | |
| Introduction | 7 | |
| The Journey West: Pioneer Women on the Move | 16 | |
| A Home in the West: Pioneer Women Settling In | 46 | |
| Behind Closed Doors: Pioneer Women and Family Dynamics | 70 | |
| The Work of Women's Hands: Pioneer Women in Action | 92 | |
| Molders and Shapers: Pioneer Women as Community Builders | 118 | |
| Notes on Sources and Bibliography | 140 | |
| Index | 142 | |
| Acknowledgements | 144 |
Overview
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...