A Rancher S Woman

"This book delves into the complex, compelling and seldom explored history of southern Albertan ranch women. Spanning the years 1880-1930, this book sheds light on the significant roles ranch women played in the evolution of the Alberta agricultural industry. The book encapsulates an era of change on the Prairies, from the time of large cattle operations covering thousands of acres to family-owned ranches that subsisted on much less, but with arguably greater success. The role women played in ensuring the economic viability and social harmony of their families, ranches and communities should not be underestimated. Having to shoulder a variety of tasks and roles, ranch women of this era, while perhaps having more freedom and independence than their urban or European counterparts, faced a myriad of challenges. For some, these previously unimaginable challenges proved too much, but for others, it was simply part of the adventure. This book pays homage to the brave and talented women who rode out in the hills, carving out a role for themselves, during the dawn of the family ranching era."-- Provided by publisher.

When Jo Jeffers was a young girl suffering from asthma, she promised herself, "When I grow up, if I ever do, I shall go to Arizona and be a cowboy." She did both, and Ranch Wife tells the story of her life as wife and partner of a rancher in the high country of northeastern Arizona. Here she describes the routines of ranch life and vividly recalls the dust storms, plagues, and other hazards that challenged the young city-bred woman. It offers readers not only an insider's view of a working ranch but also an appreciation of how ranchers' wives help sustain such a rugged enterprise.

The real life of a ranch hand's wife. Stories about living on a cattle ranch as a hired hand, not an owner, told by a woman who knew nothing about agriculture. The daily struggles and life lessons will have you laughing one minute and on the verge of tears the next. A true insight into the real life of America's ranching culture.

The author of Texas Dames shares a new collection of profiles featuring the incredible women who helped build the Lone Star State. Texas would not be Texas without the formidable women of its past. Beneath the sunbonnets and Stetsons, the women of the Lone Star State carved out ranches and breathed new life into arid spreads of land. When husbands, sons and fathers fell, bold Texas women were there to take the reins. Throughout the centuries, the women of Texas's ranches defended home and hearth with cannon and shot. They rescued hostages. They nurtured livestock through hard winters and long droughts and drove them up the cattle trails. They built communities and saw to it that faith and education prevailed for their children and their communities. Join author Carmen Goldthwaite in an inspiring survey of fierce Lone Star ladies.

This book is a portrait of the Petaluma Jewish community from the early years of the century to the present day. Kenneth L. Kann interviewed more than two hundred residents, representing three generations of Jewish Americans. The picture that emerges from their testimony is of a wonderfully animated and fractious community. Its history blends many of the familiar themes of American Jewish life into a richly individual tapestry. In the first few decades of this century, many Jewish immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe wound up in Petaluma. This first generation of chicken farmers consisted largely of educated, often professional men and women; many were drawn to chicken farming as much by Marxist or Zionist beliefs in the dignity of labor as by economic necessity. They helped establish the particular character of a community, with its combination of arduous work and cultural aspiration.

The history of Faraway Ranch and the Erickson-Riggs family is a rich and complex story. However, if viewed simplistically as we often have, the Faraway Ranch story is one more tale of Western settlement. Two Swedidh immigrants, one a soldier and the other an officer's family servant, meet at a frontier military post, fall in love and decide to homestead along the banks of Bonita Creek in the Chiricahua Mountains.... (from the introduction).

"A faithful and unvarnished Record of a Settler’s Life" is how Isabel Randall described her letters when they were first published in 1887. Many foreign travelers published accounts of their visits to the American West, but Randall was one of the few European women to write about the western experience from the inside. In 1884 Randall and her husband settled on a ranch in Montana hoping to make their fortune in the livestock boom. Randall’s letters home to England describe the practical affairs of daily life, rural social interactions, and the natural world around her. Her letters are cheerful, but they also suggest why the Randalls ultimately failed to achieve financial success. In this new edition of A Lady’s Ranch Life in Montana, Richard L. Saunders supplements Randall’s letters with notes and an extensive introduction drawn from a wealth of primary sources. He sketches the Randalls’ lives before and after their western adventure, describes the stock industry that drew them to Montana, places Isabel’s letters in the context of English attitudes toward Americans, and discusses her neighbors’ reactions to her criticisms of local society.