Book Reviews: Letters of A Woman Homesteader

“No, we have no rural delivery. It is two miles to the office, but I go whenever I like. It is really the jolliest kind of fun to gallop down. We are sixty miles from the railroad, but when we want anything we send by the mail-carrier for it, only there is nothing to get.”
― Elinore Pruitt Stewart, Letters Of A Woman Homesteader

I did not know what to expect when choosing to read this book. I’ve been interested in better understanding the tapestry of women’s lives throughout history, and this seemed like an interesting place to start. Elinore Pruitt Stewart was born in 1876 and had a challenging start in life. She was orphaned young and grew up largely fending for herself. She was first married; however, her husband died in a railroad accident. In an effort to change her life, she took herself and her daughter to Wyoming to work on a homestead with Henry Clyde Stewart, whom she later married and had children with.

Elinore’s story is touching, and it’s inspiring to see a woman of that time take charge of her life. However, as a woman of color, there were certain nuances in her story that stood out to me. She is a glass-half-full kind of woman who truly counts her blessings and takes joy in the life she has built largely with her own two hands. The book unfolds as a series of letters she writes to a friend of hers from Denver. 

Happy at the homestead, Elinore pushes Clyde Jr. and Calvin in a wagon, with Jerrine sitting nearby and Clyde standing proudly over his Stewart brood. — Stewart family photo courtesy Sweetwater County Historical Museum

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