Letters of a Woman Homesteader

Letters of a Woman Homesteader

Project Gutenberg's Letters of a Woman Homesteader, by Elinore Pruitt Stewart This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Letters of a Woman Homesteader
Author: Elinore Pruitt Stewart
Release Date: August 30, 2005 [EBook #16623]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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LETTERS OF A WOMAN HOMESTEADER
BY
Elinore Pruitt Stewart [Illustration]
BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge

1913 AND 1914, BY THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY CO.
1914, BY ELINORE PRUITT STEWART
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
_Published May 1914_

PUBLISHERS' NOTE
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. They are genuine letters, and are printed as written, except for occasional omissions and the alteration of some of the names.
4 PARK ST.

CONTENTS
I. THE ARRIVAL AT BURNT FORK 3
II. FILING A CLAIM 7
III. A BUSY, HAPPY SUMMER 15
IV. A CHARMING ADVENTURE AND ZEBULON PIKE 23
V. SEDALIA AND REGALIA 45
VI. A THANKSGIVING-DAY WEDDING 54
VII. ZEBULON PIKE VISITS HIS OLD HOME 60
VIII. A HAPPY CHRISTMAS 64
IX. A CONFESSION 77
X. THE STORY OF CORA BELLE 81
XI. ZEBBIE'S STORY 100
XII. A CONTENTED COUPLE 117
XIII. PROVING UP 133
XIV. THE NEW HOUSE 137
XV. THE "STOCKING-LEG" DINNER 143
XVI. THE HORSE-THIEVES 157
XVII. AT GAVOTTE'S CAMP 180
XVIII. THE HOMESTEADER'S MARRIAGE AND A LITTLE FUNERAL 184
XIX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE 193
XX. THE JOYS OF HOMESTEADING 213
XXI. A LETTER OF JERRINE'S 218
XXII. THE EFFICIENT MRS. O'SHAUGHNESSY 220
XXIII. HOW IT HAPPENED 225
XXIV. A LITTLE ROMANCE 230
XXV. AMONG THE MORMONS 256
XXVI. SUCCESS 279
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LETTERS OF A WOMAN HOMESTEADER
I
THE ARRIVAL AT BURNT FORK
BURNT FORK, WYOMING, _April 18, 1909._
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.
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.
At last we "arriv," and everything is just lovely for me. I have a very, very comfortable situation and Mr. Stewart is absolutely no trouble, for as soon as he has his meals he retires to his room and plays on his bagpipe, only he calls it his "bugpeep." It is "The Campbells are Coming," without variations, at intervals all day long and from seven till eleven at night. Sometimes I wish they would make