After the West Was Won: Homesteaders and Town-Builders in Western South Dakota, 1900-1917

by Paula M. Nelson

Overview

"In this well-written monograph Paula M. Nelson tells the story of the settlement of 'west river country,' that part of South Dakota west of the Missouri River....Nelson's major contribution is her reconstruction of the social life of this generation of settlers....Nelson is particularly sensitive to the experience of pioneer women, both those who labored within the family and those single women who homesteaded on their own."--American Historical Review "After the West Was Won is an impressively researched and beautifully written study....Nelson also conveys the sense of pain and suffering that pioneers in western South Dakota endured; the technology of steam, electricity, and internal combustion failed to create utopia in a primitive area after the West was won."--Technology and Culture "Paula M. Nelson's account of the trials and tribulations of the pioneers of that flat, windswept plain is a welcome addition to the literature on the agricultural frontier."--Journal of American History

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781587291661
Publisher:	University of Iowa Press
Publication date:	12/01/1989
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	238
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Paula Nelson is a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin- Platteville.

Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Merely the Pioneers 2. The Last Great Frontier 3. Fifty Miles to Water, One Hundred Miles to Wood 4. Threshers Came Right After Dinner 5. Sociability is What We Need in This Country 6. The Best and Most Progressive Town 7. Happy Homes, Fine Residences, and Good Schools and Churches 8. We've Reached the Land of Drouth and Heat 9. Let the Good Work Go On 10. To Overcome the Drawbacks and Failure 11. Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

After the frontier settlement line disappeared in the 1890s, there were still areas of the Great Plains that had not been settled. Nelson examines one of these areas: South Dakota west of the Missouri River. With great style, she details the life of the homesteader trying to establish a farm in dry country and of the towns attempting to build a sound economic foundation. Her readable narrative is soundly based on memoirs, newspaper accounts, and county histories. The story of the self-reliance and determination needed to settle the Plains is one that needs to be told, and Nelson has made an important contribution by examining a typical area. Essential for collections on the West; an important acquisition for others.Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette

Library Journal