Letters of a Woman Homesteader

"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.

Wyoming homesteader Elinore Pruitt Stewart was born Elinore Pruitt on June 3, 1876, and died on October 8, 1933. She sent letters to a previous employer in Denver, Colorado, outlining her life there. Two compilations of her letters were released in 1914 and 1915. The 1979 film Heartland was based on the first of those compilations. On June 3, 1876, Elinore Pruitt was born at White Bead Hill, which is now a deserted township in the Chickasaw Nation of Indian Territory. Near the Mexican border, her father passed away in the late 1870s while serving in the Army. She wed Harry Cramer Rupert, who was 48 at the time, somewhere about 1902. For many years, she kept her marriage a secret because she wanted to be able to claim the property as her own. She gave up her claim in 1912 in favor of her mother-in-law rather than risk losing it for failing to comply with the Homestead Acts' rules for claims made by unmarried women. The years 1909 to 1914 are covered in Letters of a Woman Homesteader. August through October 1914 are the two action-packed months covered in Letters on an Elk Hunt. When a horse bolted in 1926, a hay mower ran over her, causing severe injuries from which she never fully recovered.