Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie : The Oregon Trail Diary of
Hattie Campbell, 1847 (Dear America; 4)
by Kristiana Gregory
Listed under Dear America
Series
Bold
Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America by Sue Armitage, Linda Lawrence Hunt
Book Description: Helga Estby and her daughter Clara left Spokane, Washington, in May
1896 to walk to New York City on a $10,000 wager. The money was needed
to prevent foreclosure of their mortgage, hopefully saving the family homestead.
Helga was a Norwegian immigrant who married young, bore nine children,
and endured fruitless years on the harsh Minnesota prairie before moving
West. She and her husband Ole settled near the little Washington farm town
of Rockford, only to be wiped out by the nationwide depression of 1893.
Lured by an offer from a mysterious sponsor, Helga was promised funds
if she and her daughter walked unaided and unfinanced all the way to New
York City. The women "tramped" the railroad lines through Boise, Salt Lake
City, Denver, and Omaha before reaching roads and "civilization" in the
Midwest. They walked on through Chicago, Pennsylvania, and finally reached
New York. On the arduous journey they faced extreme cold and heat, hunger
and exposure, and even shot a man in the leg in self-defense. They met
with mayors, governors, and other notables, such as, President-elect McKinley
on his porch in Ohio.
On Christmas Eve, 1896, the New York World reported their arrival in
New York City. What followed was an American tragedy.
Paperback from Univ of Idaho Pr
Book Published: May, 2003
Letters
of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart, et al
First published in 1914, these letters relate a widow's struggle to
find hard work and happiness on the prairie. Illustrations by N.
C. Wyeth.
Paperback - 282 pages (May 15, 1998)
Houghton Mifflin Co (Pap); ISBN: 0395911516
No
Life for a Lady by Agnes Morley, Cleaveland, et al
Paperback: ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.84 x 7.98 x 5.35
Univ of Nebraska Pr; ISBN: 0803258682; (October 1977)
