Elinore Pruitt Stewart

As a young widow with a small child, Elinore Pruitt left Denver in 1909 and set out for Wyoming, where she hoped to buy a ranch. Determined to prove that a lone woman could survive the hardships of homesteading, she initially worked as a housekeeper and hired hand for a neighbor-a kind but taciturn Scottish bachelor whom she eventually married. Spring and summers were hard, she concedes, and were taken up with branding, farming, doctoring cattle, and other chores. But with the arrival of fall, Pruitt found time to take her young daughter on camping trips and serve her neighbors as midwife, doctor, teacher, Santa Claus, and friend. She provides a candid portrait of these and other experiences in twenty-six letters written to a friend back in Denver. Described by the Wall Street Journal as "warmly delightful, vigorously affirmative," this unsurpassed classic of American frontier life is a must-read for students and historians of the American West.

As a young widow with a small child, Elinore Pruitt left Denver in 1909 and set out for Wyoming, where she hoped to buy a ranch. Determined to prove that a lone woman could survive the hardships of homesteading, she initially worked as a housekeeper and hired hand for a neighbor-a kind but taciturn Scottish bachelor whom she eventually married. Spring and summers were hard, she concedes, and were taken up with branding, farming, doctoring cattle, and other chores. But with the arrival of fall, Pruitt found time to take her young daughter on camping trips and serve her neighbors as midwife, doctor, teacher, Santa Claus, and friend. She provides a candid portrait of these and other experiences in twenty-six letters written to a friend back in Denver. Described by the Wall Street Journal as "warmly delightful, vigorously affirmative," this unsurpassed classic of American frontier life is a must-read for students and historians of the American West.

"Letters of a Woman Homesteader" is the fascinating true tale of life on the American frontier by Elinore Pruitt Stewart. First published in 1914, Stewart's work is a collection of 26 letters written by Stewart from 1909 to 1914 which follow her adventures in Wyoming. Born Elinore Pruitt in 1876 in Chickasaw Nation territory in modern day Oklahoma, her birth father died when she was very young and her mother and step-father both died when Stewart was a teenager, leaving her in charge of her younger siblings at age 18. She married her first husband in 1902 and was widowed in 1906 while pregnant. Stewart was resourceful and industrious and after working for a time in Denver, she traveled to Wyoming to work for Henry Clyde Stewart as a housekeeper on his homestead. Her letters to her friend back in Denver show her resilience and tenacity as she staked her own homestead claim and tirelessly faced the endless chores and challenges of making a living in the unforgiving frontier. Stewart's letters are an engaging, charming, and candid glimpse into life on a working ranch and the unique challenges faced by a woman with a young child in the harsh American West. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Letters of a Woman Homesteader has been regarded as significant work throughout human history, and in order to ensure that this work is never lost, we have taken steps to ensure its preservation by republishing this book in a contemporary format for both current and future generations. This entire book has been retyped, redesigned, and reformatted. Since these books are not made from scanned copies, the text is readable and clear.

Letters on an Elk Hunt has been regarded as significant work throughout human history, and in order to ensure that this work is never lost, we have taken steps to ensure its preservation by republishing this book in a contemporary format for both current and future generations. This entire book has been retyped, redesigned, and reformatted. Since these books are not made from scanned copies, the text is readable and clear.

Elinore Pruitt, a widow and mother who washed clothes for a living in Denver, planned to work as a housekeeper for some rancher while learning all she would need to know about homesteading a place for herself. In 1909 she went to work for Clyde Stewart, whose ranch was near Burnt Fork, Wyoming, and within six weeks she married him. Ranch work seemed to require that we be married first and do our sparking afterward, she wrote Juliet Coney, her former employer. She maintained her independence by filing on a quarter section adjacent to her husband's land and proving it up herself. Her delightful letters, written from the time of her arrival until 1913, authentically depict an Old West that, as Jessamyn West notes in her foreword, has been progressively obscured by those who portray it most often. The critically acclaimed 1980 film Heartland was based on Elinore Pruitt Stewart's letters and journals.

Elinore Pruitt Stewart wrote a historical narrative titled Letters of a Woman Homesteader. The letters provide a detailed account of Stewart's ranching career and the difficulties he faced. Currently listed on the US National Register of Historic Places is the Elinore Pruitt Stewart Homestead. Following the death of Mrs. Coney's first husband in a train accident, Stewart meets Mrs. Coney. Stewart eventually wants to remarry because she wants to improve herself. She marries a Scottish ranch owner she meets in Wyoming. Because she wishes to own the estate independently, Stewart keeps her marital status a secret. There are 26 letters by Martha Stewart included in Letters of a Woman Homesteader. The letters describe day-to-day activities on the farm. She is committed to demonstrating that women are excellent homesteaders. Whether it's planning weddings or comforting widows after a funeral, she thrives on helping others. Although it is impossible to determine how accurate her letters are, modern evidence shows that she was a likeable person. The letters sent by Mrs. Coney show a woman who refrained from lamenting her lot in life. Letters of a Woman Homesteader includes her published letters. From sources, readers may learn more about homesteading in the 20th century. Both juvenile and older readers will find the letters to be understandable.

The writer of the following letters is a young woman who lost her husband in a railroad accident and went to Denver to seek support for herself and her two-year-old daughter, Jerrine. Turning her hand to the nearest work, she went out by the day as house-cleaner and laundress. Later, seeking to better herself, she accepted employment as a housekeeper for a well-to-do Scotch cattle-man, Mr. Stewart, who had taken up a quarter-section in Wyoming. The letters, written through several years to a former employer in Denver, tell the story of her new life in the new country." Dear Mrs. Coney, -Are you thinking I am lost, like the Babes in the Wood? Well, I am not and I'm sure the robins would have the time of their lives getting leaves to cover me out here. I am 'way up close to the Forest Reserve of Utah, within half a mile of the line, sixty miles from the railroad. I was twenty-four hours on the train and two days on the stage, and oh, those two days The snow was just beginning to melt and the mud was about the worst I ever heard of.(...)"- Taken from "Letters of a Woman Homesteader" written by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

Letters of a Woman Homesteader is a great account of a woman on the frontier, published in 1914.

Letters of a Woman Homesteader is a great account of a woman on the frontier, published in 1914.

As a young widow with a small child, Elinore Pruitt left Denver in 1909 and set out for Wyoming, where she hoped to buy a ranch. Determined to prove that a lone woman could survive the hardships of homesteading, she initially worked as a housekeeper and hired hand for a neighbor - a kind but taciturn Scottish bachelor whom she eventually married. Spring and summers were hard, she concedes, and were taken up with branding, farming, doctoring cattle, and other chores. But with the arrival of fall, Pruitt found time to take her young daughter on camping trips and serve her neighbors as midwife, doctor, teacher, Santa Claus, and friend. She provides a candid portrait of these and other experiences in twenty-six letters written to a friend back in Denver.