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When we think about women settlers on the Prairies, our notions tend to veer between the nostalgic image of the "cheerful helpmate" and the grim deprivation of the "reluctant immigrant." In this ground-breaking new study, Leigh Matthews shows how a critical approach to the life-writing of individual prairie women can broaden and deepen our understanding of the settlement era. Reopening for examination a substantial body of memoirs published after 1950 but now largely out of print, Matthews engages critical and feminist theory to close the gap between our polarized stereotypes and the actual lived experiences of rural prairie women.Addressing both the limitations and possibilities of life writing, Matthews presents a sound, well-developed and well-written case for memoir as reconciling female experience to the dominant historiography of the prairie west. Reading for "failures and incoherences," the memoirs considered here reveal women's voices that probe a community's most cherished values and beliefs, reveal its conflicts and contradictions, and call leaders to account.

Women pioneers --- Agriculture in literature. --- Frontier and pioneer life.

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Edward M. Curr (1820-89) was a pastoralist, horse trader, stock inspector, Aboriginal administrator, author and ethnologist

English Literature --- English --- Languages & Literatures --- Frontier and pioneer life --- Authors, Australian --- Australian authors --- Curr, Edward M.

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The story of the westward expansion of this country does not stop with the hardships encountered by travelers on the Mormon Trail, the discomforts endured by early settlers in sod houses, the bravery of the Pony Express riders, the romantic solitude of the cowboys, or the sufferings of the Indians forced to abandon their homes bleak and alien country. Much has been written about these colorful episodes and, through the courtesy of Hollywood and TV, has been brought into millions of homes in living color. But what happened to the people, including the Indians, who survived the great raid on Fort X, the bitter winters and scorching summers spent in primitive housing, the terrible loneliness and lack of communication with eastern kin? What did migrants do when they reached the end of the Mormon Trail? And did the Cherokees’ Trail of tears become a neverending journey from one “relocation” to another? How did people develop and accommodate themselves to an environment which was itself constantly altered by an everchanging society?In these essays we find that tragedy and joy, victory and defeat, human fulfillment and human degradation are visible in roughly equal proportions in the story of the Americanization of the West: that the goals, both realistic and unrealistic, of one group, society, or culture are frequently pursued only at the expense of other groups; and that the skeletons in the closet of American history abound to a greater extent than a nation convinced of its own virtue is willing to admit. Racism has plagued the nation since its inception, and exploitation of one group by another was sadly a part of the Western frontier. However, there was a freshness and vigor in the history of the West. Young railroads continued to grow, linking productive farms with brawling cities. New businesses and new political parties emerged, all contributing to the growth of the region that Stephen A. Douglas called the “adhesive of the Union.”This is a fascinating collection that serves to illuminate both the tragedies and accomplishments of the westward movement.

Frontier and pioneer life --- West (U.S.) --- History. --- History of the Americas

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McPherson argues that, instead of being a downtrodden group of prisoners, defeated militarily in the 1860s and dependent on the U.S. government for protection and guidance in the 1870s and 80s, the Navajo nation was vigorously involved in defending and expanding the borders of their homelands. This was accomplished not through war nor as a concerted effort, but by an aggressive defensive policy built on individual action that varied with changing circumstances. Many Navajos never made the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo. Instead they eluded capture in northern and western hinterlands and ther--

Frontier and pioneer life - Southwest, New. --- Frontier and pioneer life -- Southwest, New. --- Indians of North America -- Southwest, New -- Captivities. --- Indians of North America -- Southwest, New -- Wars. --- Navajo Indians -- Captivities. --- Navajo Indians - History. --- Navajo Indians - Land tenure. --- Navajo Indians -- Wars. --- Gender & Ethnic Studies --- Social Sciences --- Ethnic & Race Studies --- Navajo Indians --- Frontier and pioneer life --- History. --- Land tenure. --- Diné Indians (Navajo) --- Navaho Indians --- Athapascan Indians --- Indians of North America

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Writing his full-length reminiscence in a lonely Adirondack cabin during the winter of 1891-92, Henry Conklin recounts the first thirteen years of his life on a farm in Schoharie County, his young manhood in Herkimer County, and his service in the Civil War. The story is one of a hardscrabble life, of farming on marginal land and struggling each day for necessary food and clothing. And yet Conklin asserts that these years were the happiest he knew. The Conklin family was close-knit, loving, and self-sufficient. They built their home, made their own clothing, and grew much of their food. Everyone contributed his or her share to the good of the family group. In this vivid portrayal of family life, we read about ordinary events that are unfamiliar to us today – weaving cloth, churning butter, making shingles, starting a fire with flint and steel, setting traps – and about the technology of the nineteenth century. With insight, humility, and a perspective gained through distance and time, Henry Conklin gives us a dramatic and moving narrative in which we become deeply involved. In telling his story, Conklin is not only reliving the past but also saving the events, experiences, and persons of his life from oblivion, and contributing to our historical knowledge of the rural backwaters of antebellum America. Conklin’s reminiscence was preserved by his son and then by his grandson Roy Conklin, who brought it to the attention of Wendell Tripp. Several engravings supplement the text, and the editor has provided footnotes to many references that may be unclear to present day readers.

Frontier and pioneer life --- Conklin, Henry, --- Childhood and youth. --- Border life --- Homesteading --- Pioneer life --- Adventure and adventurers --- Manners and customs --- Pioneers --- History --- History of the Americas