This is a great book! The author dug through archival diaries and oral autobiographies and found the stories from women who survived through the hard times of living in the wild, wild west. Most of the stories are from New Mexico, but there is some parts covering Texas and Arizona. Learning about how people coped with the hardships and how they lived opened my eyes to the sacrifices of the homesteaders. I can't imagine living in a 8 x 10 dugout covered with tin for years at a time, with only an oil burning stove and a straw bed!

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I enjoyed reading this book, especially since deals with women and history. It is amazing to me what the women from that time period went through and dealt with during the time frame of 1860-1960. I've also been working on my families genealogy and while none of my ancestors (as far as I'm aware) traveled to the Southwest, this book gives me an idea of what life was like during those years, it gives me a better context than any history class that I've taken!

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