The United States is a nation deeply committed to the proposition that “all men are created equal” and that all lives matter. We are enthralled by tales of individuals willing to take great risks for great rewards, confident in their ability to make their dreams come true, and willing to constantly reinvent themselves in the pursuit of success and personal fulfillment. Laura Ingalls Wilder is just such an individual. As a young pioneer on the Western frontier, she lived a life of great risk, requiring her and her family to rely almost entirely on their own ingenuity and effort to survive. In her later years, she again took great risk and reinvented herself as a children’s writer, sharing her stories of the American Frontier with new generations. Laura Ingalls Wilder has become an American Icon due to her life-long willingness to take risks, practice self-reliance, and repeatedly reinvent herself.
Laura Ingalls was born the child of Charles and Caroline Ingalls on February 7, 1867 (“Laura Ingalls Wilder Timeline”). During her early years, the Ingalls family joined the growing number of Americans pioneering on the Western Frontier. After leaving Wisconsin, they spent time living in the Indian Territory, Minnesota, and Iowa. The family finally settled in DeSmet, South Dakota (“About Laura”). Throughout each of these moves, the family was in the forefront of a wave of settlers moving west. In doing so, they faced the dangers of an unknown frontier, including potentially hostile Native Americans, blinding blizzards in winter, blazing heat in summer, and a degree of isolation that meant any illness within the family or failure in planning or preparation might spell their doom. Yet Laura, along with her family, relished these...
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Jane was born Jane Wilkinson on July 23, 1798, in Charles County, Maryland.She was the tenth child of Captain William Mackall and Anne Herbert Wilkinson. When Jane was less than a year old her father died. In 1811 her mother moved them to Mississippi Territory. The following year her mother died and she became an orphan at the age of 14. She moved in with her older sister,Barbara,and her husband,Alexander, on their plantation near Natchez. She met her soon to be husband James Long while she was there. They ended up married to each other on May 14, 1815.For the next four years they lived in vicinity and soon became a merchant in Natchez, In 1816, when Jane was 18, she gave birth to her first child Ann on November 26. Later she had another daughter, Rebecca, on June 16, 1819. Twelve days after Rebecca was born Jane wanted to join her husband in Nacogdoches, so she left with her two children and slave, Kian.She left them at the Calvit’s. Jane became ill, but she kept on with the trip and didn’t reach Nacogdoches till August.After a short amount of time she was staying there she had to move with other families to the Sabine to run away from the Spanish troops from San Antonio. She later returned to the Calvit’s to find out that her youngest daughter,Rebecca, had died. James and her
Women of the Western schoolhouse had a reputation for instilling values and lessons to the children of the frontier. They were historical heroines who chose to journey all the way from the East just to hear the sounds of children learning. According to Anne M. Butler, in her book Uncommon Common Women, these women left behind their family and friends, "took teacher training, signed two-year contracts, and set forth for unknown sites " (68). Schoolteachers on the frontier must have had an incredible love for children in order to deal with the difficulties the West placed in their way.
“The Lost Children of Wilder” is a book about how the foster care system failed to give children of color the facilities that would help them lead a somewhat normal and protected life. The story of Shirley Wilder is a sad one once you find out what kind of life she had to live when she was a young girl. Having no mother and rejected by her father she has become a troubled girl.
One bright sunny afternoon on August 12, 1910 Jane Wyatt came into this world. Sister to three siblings and daughter to an investment banker father and drama critic mother. Although she was born in New Jersey, she was raised at a young age in New York City. Wyatt received her basic formal education at Chapin School and then attended Barnard College in New York City. How ever being privileged with having a mother
Modern day interpretations of pioneer women are mostly inaccurate and romanticized as easy, and luxurious in a new land however, that is far from the truth. Overall, pioneer women had many jobs that were underappreciated, they weren’t valued as men but without them many people in the West wouldn’t have survived and had to leave so much to go on a trip that took weeks and was no vacation, because women pioneers would have to cook and clean and take care of her children and husband, while on a wagon with having to adapt to the changing weather and climates, they did jobs that were considered as “men’s jobs” and worked as hard as men to survive in the west during the Manifest Destiny. Therefore, women pioneers were overlooked as an insignificant part of the Westward Expansion.
Wilder, Laura Ingalls, and Garth Williams. Little House on the Prairie. New York: Harper & Bros., 1953. Print.
The small community of Hallowell, Maine was no different than any other community in any part of the new nation – the goals were the same – to survive and prosper. Life in the frontier was hard, and the settlement near the Kennebec Valley was no different than what the pioneers in the west faced. We hear many stories about the forefathers of our country and the roles they played in the early days but we don’t hear much about the accomplishments of the women behind those men and how they contributed to the success of the communities they settled in. Thanks to Martha Ballard and the diary that she kept for 27 years from 1785-1812, we get a glimpse into...
When looking at the vast lands of Texas after the Civil War, many different people came to the lands in search for new opportunities and new wealth. Many were lured by the large area that Texas occupied for they wanted to become ranchers and cattle herders, of which there was great need for due to the large population of cows and horses. In this essay there are three different people with three different goals in the adventures on the frontier lands of Texas in its earliest days. Here we have a woman's story as she travels from Austin to Fort Davis as we see the first impressions of West Texas. Secondly, there is a very young African American who is trying his hand at being a horse rancher, which he learned from his father. Lastly we have a Mexican cowboy who tries to fight his way at being a ranch hand of a large ranching outfit.
There has been much written about Isabella Lucy Bird being a unique individual, bold traveler, talented descriptive writer, and great example to women. These are all great ways to describe the well known traveler, however, there have been few efforts to proclaim her as the luminary of Christian faith that she is. In A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains Bird paints an awe inspiring picture of the harsh life and beautiful landscape of the Rocky Mountains in the early 19th century. Throughout her book, Bird gives grand descriptions of the breathtaking natural scenes she experiences along her travels in Lake Tahoe, Estes Park, Colorado City, Denver, Boulder and other areas within the great mountain range. Bird also recounts the hard way of life
One of the first and most famous women to emerge into Arizona politics was Sharlot Hall. Hall was the only daughter of a pioneer family that arrived in Arizona in 1882. Extremely bright, Hall read books often and developed a love for writing and free expression, an expression that was mocked by her father. Despite her family’s misgivings she continued to write poems and stories and was first published at the age of twenty-two. From that moment on her literary flare blossomed. Hall became an expert on writing about the beauty and solitude of the southwest and was published regularly in the magazine Land of Sunshine (Weston, 543).
The writer of the world’s most enduring children’s classic did not come from wealth or outstanding intellect; he began his life in Florida, Missouri. Samuel Clemens’ father, educated in law, modeled the motivation that often defines the American dream; with determination and hard work, success can be achieved (Erskine). Unfortunately, Clemens’ father was never able to achieve his dreams, and he died shortly after moving his family to the banks of the Mississippi River (Erskine). Jane Clemens, his mother, became the central influence of his life, and would later influence his choice of a wife (Erskine).
There was a time when masculinity and independence depended highly on the self and responsibility to nature. Natty Bumppo and Almanzo Wilder are just two among the plethora of strong leading male characters set in the American frontier who are windows into a now foreign world of reliance on oneself and nature. Both of these characters display not only the capability, but the desire to live and work within nature, as well as being known to be more stoic and quiet. By delving into the characteristics of Natty Bumppo in the Leather Stocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper, mostly as Pathfinder, as well as Almanzo Wilder as he is written about in the books Farmer Boy, and The Long Winter, and These Happy Golden Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (with some insight into his real-life counterpart.) the reader can just how these two characters are alike. However, the argument is that Pathfinder and Almanzo Wilder complement each other into the idealized American frontier man (a “perfect boyfriend” for lack of a better phrase) even with their differences (mostly in the realm of the physical). Though there are other leading male characters in the American frontier setting—such as Daniel Boone and Davey Crockett—these two represent a reserved masculinity that is not exalted in modern media, where the masculine
From poverty to stardom Louisa May Alcott has thrived through many trials and tribulations, but with her unremitting passion and determination, Alcott became a well-known author and role model. Alcott experienced many setbacks in her life. With these setbacks, she was able to create stories that portrayed her life experiences. Alcott’s writings captured the hearts of young children to grown adults. Although she lived for only fifty-five years, she showed her audacity to be support herself and her family.
Scott Momaday was born on February 27, 1934, in Oklahoma. His mother was a literature teacher and his father was an art teacher. Momaday’s parents both where authors and taught on Indian reserves. Momaday was forced to adjust between two cultures from an early age; although, he views this situation as an advantage, both in his life and in his work. After receiving a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of New Mexico, he submitted a few poems to a creative writing contest sponsored by Stanford University. There Ivor Winters, professor and established poet, secured a scholarship for the young man and became his mentor. Momaday remained at Stanford to earn a master's and Ph.D. in English and continued to write fiction and poetry. He came out as a highly successful writer of many books, and his literary career full of outstanding achievements. House Made of Dawn, his “classic first novel”, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. In his writings, Momaday ha...
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an early-19th century writer mainly known for her abolitionist works (My poetic side). In the early-19th century the War of 1812 had just ended and thus created a whole new era of American Literature. At this time, the literature was used to express opinions about the abolitionist movement, views on religion, and new ideas like transcendentalism. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s works, however, were centered around religion and abolition. In my poem, “The Mystery of Life”, Harriet delves into religion. She discusses what she believes Christ’s role to be in the mystery of life. She says “Thy pierced hand guides