An authentic voice from the western frontier

Elinore Pruitt Stewart is renowned for her books 'Letters of a Woman Homesteader' and its sequel 'Letters on an Elk Hunt, ' both of which are included in this Leonaur good value, two-in-one edition. Born in 1876 in the Oklahoma Indian Territory, the oldest of nine children, by the time she was 30 years old she had married Harry Rupert and was the widowed mother of a baby daughter. Three years later Elinore answered an advertisement for a housekeeper for rancher Henry Stewart at Burntfork, Wyoming. She filed a claim on 160 acres of land adjacent to Stewart's property and the couple were married soon afterwards. Elinore's life as the couple struggled to run their ranch and raise their family on the Wyoming prairie, was a harsh one, but her books show it be a life full of encounters with notable and memorable characters and rich in variety and experience. She has left us a rewarding, charming and poignant insight into the lives of American settlers who carved a living and a nation out of the western states. Her story epitomises the spirit of the pioneer women who tamed a wilderness and will resonate with everyone who enjoys reading about the lives of those determined to triumph over adversity.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

Peopled with the kinds of characters most novelists only dream of (Christian Science Monitor), this classic account of American frontier living captures the rambunctious spirit of a pioneer who set out in 1909 to prove that a woman could ranch.

A series of letters make for a fascinating narrative and descriptive journal of Mrs. Stewart's life, moving from the city to a Wyoming homestead, marrying and still having the determination to homestead on her own. Stewart's captivating missives bring to full life the beauty, isolation, and joys of working the prairie.

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.

2023 Reprint of the 1914 Edition. Peopled with the kinds of characters most novelists only dream of (Christian Science Monitor), this classic account of American frontier living captures the rambunctious spirit of a pioneer who set out in 1909 to prove that a woman could ranch. 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 - enhanced with original illustrations by N. C. Wyeth - will charm today's audience as much as it fascinated readers when it was first 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.
Described by the Wall Street Journal as warmly delightful, vigorously affirmative, this unsurpassed classic of American frontier life -- enhanced with original illustrations by N. C. Wyeth -- will charm today's audience as much as it fascinated readers when it was first 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. 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.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

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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 collection of real-life letters written by Elinore Pruitt Stewart, a single mother who left Denver in 1909 to homestead in Wyoming. The book is a fascinating account of the challenges and triumphs of frontier life in the early 20th century. Through her letters, Elinore shares her experiences of building a home, raising chickens and cows, and planting crops on her 160-acre homestead. She also writes about her interactions with the local community, including her neighbors, the schoolteacher, and the local doctor. The book provides a unique perspective on the hardships and joys of homesteading, as well as the resilience and determination of a woman who was determined to make a life for herself and her family on the frontier.1914. 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'd 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. Her delightful letters written from the time of her arrival until 1913, authentically depict an Old West that has been progressively obscured by those who portray it most often.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

ELINORE PRUITT STEWART (1876-1933) caused a literary sensation in 1914 when her Letters of a Woman Homesteader was published. A self-educated pioneer in southwest Wyoming, she wrote letters to keep her mind busy amidst the hard physical labor of carving a home out of wilderness, and to keep her friendships fresh in that remote place In this followup of the next year, Stewart's missives are short stories in themselves, letters written about events in the summer and fall of 1914 and intended for later publication, as those of her first collection were not. The joy of Stewart's writing is in the perceptive eye she turns on her neighbors and their fortunes and misfortunes: scraping up money to buy a coffin and tombstone for a beloved mother, digging wells for thirsty horses, making bonnets and kitchen curtainHIS036041s to beautify a harsh environment, rekindling a romance between a couple long estranged, and more. A classic of pioneer life, this delightful book continues to enthrall readers today, nearly a century as it was written.

This book is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

Letters of a Woman Homesteader 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.

An authentic voice from the western frontier

Elinore Pruitt Stewart is renowned for her books 'Letters of a Woman Homesteader' and its sequel 'Letters on an Elk Hunt, ' both of which are included in this Leonaur good value, two-in-one edition. Born in 1876 in the Oklahoma Indian Territory, the oldest of nine children, by the time she was 30 years old she had married Harry Rupert and was the widowed mother of a baby daughter. Three years later Elinore answered an advertisement for a housekeeper for rancher Henry Stewart at Burntfork, Wyoming. She filed a claim on 160 acres of land adjacent to Stewart's property and the couple were married soon afterwards. Elinore's life as the couple struggled to run their ranch and raise their family on the Wyoming prairie, was a harsh one, but her books show it be a life full of encounters with notable and memorable characters and rich in variety and experience. She has left us a rewarding, charming and poignant insight into the lives of American settlers who carved a living and a nation out of the western states. Her story epitomises the spirit of the pioneer women who tamed a wilderness and will resonate with everyone who enjoys reading about the lives of those determined to triumph over adversity.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

ELINORE PRUITT STEWART (1876-1933) caused a literary sensation in 1914 when her Letters of a Woman Homesteader was published. A self-educated pioneer in southwest Wyoming, she wrote letters to keep her mind busy amidst the hard physical labor of carving a home out of wilderness, and to keep her friendships fresh in that remote place In this followup of the next year, Stewart's missives are short stories in themselves, letters written about events in the summer and fall of 1914 and intended for later publication, as those of her first collection were not. The joy of Stewart's writing is in the perceptive eye she turns on her neighbors and their fortunes and misfortunes: scraping up money to buy a coffin and tombstone for a beloved mother, digging wells for thirsty horses, making bonnets and kitchen curtainHIS036041s to beautify a harsh environment, rekindling a romance between a couple long estranged, and more. A classic of pioneer life, this delightful book continues to enthrall readers today, nearly a century as it was written.

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. The first stage we tackled was just about as rickety as it could very well be and I had to sit with the driver, who was a Mormon and so handsome that I was not a bit offended when he insisted on making love all the way, especially after he told me that he was a widower Mormon. But, of course, as I had no chaperone I looked very fierce (not that that was very difficult with the wind and mud as allies) and told him my actual opinion of Mormons in general and particular. Meantime my new employer, Mr. Stewart, sat upon a stack of baggage and was dreadfully concerned about something he calls his Tookie, but I am unable to tell you what that is. The road, being so muddy, was full of ruts and the stage acted as if it had the hiccoughs and made us all talk as though we were affected in the same way. Once Mr. Stewart asked me if I did not think it a gey duir trip. I told him he could call it gay if he wanted to, but it didn't seem very hilarious to me. Every time the stage struck a rock or a rut Mr. Stewart would hoot, until I began to wish we would come to a hollow tree or a hole in the ground so he could go in with the rest of the owls.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

--This text refers to the Preloaded Digital Audio Player edition.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.