A Sweet, Separate Intimacy : Women Writers of the American Frontier, 1800-1922

In this book are bits and pieces of dreams, lives, experiences, and vistas, like squares cut from old cloth and assembled into a crazy quilt of writing styles and forms. The patchwork design mirrors both the complexity of the chroniclers and the stark lines and angles of the American frontier. —Susan Cummins Miller, from the introduction In this anthology of thirty-four writers who published during the settlement years of the American frontier, Miller assembles nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and occasional writings from women of Anglo, Chinese, Hispanic, and Native American ethnicity. Variously addressing such themes as isolation, drudgery, friendship, mourning, and even mysticism, these writers offer up a different frontier, one that focuses on women’s experiences as much as men’s. In brief biographical and historical introductions to each writer, Miller shares insights and context as engaging as the selections themselves. An Anthology Of Writings By 34 American Women Of The Frontier, Covering A Broad Spectrum Of Genres And Voices, Including Poetry, Fiction, And Writing By Women Of Native American, Hispanic, Anglo, And Chinese Ethnicity. The Origin Of The Robin : An Oral Allegory ; The Forsaken Brother : A Chippewa Tale / Jane Johnston Schoolcraft (bame-wa-wa-ge-zhik-a-quay), (rosa), (leelinau) -- From A New Home : Who'll Follow?, Or, Glimpses Of Western Life. Chapter X ; Chapter Xi / Caroline Matilda Stansbury Kirkland (mrs. Mary Clavers), An Actual Settler -- Address To Women's Rights Convention, Akron, Ohio, May 28, 1851 ; Reminiscences By Frances D. Gage : Sojourner Truth ; From Elsie Magoon, Or, The Old Still-house In The Hollow : A Tale Of The Past. Chapter Xxi / Frances Dana Barker Gage (aunt Fanny) -- From Summer On The Lakes, In 1843. Chapter 3 / Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli -- From Memoirs Of Mary A. Maverick, San Antonio's First American Woman. Chapter Vii / Mary Ann Adams Maverick -- California, In 1851. Letter Third. A Trip Into The Mines / Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe (dame Shirley) -- An Order For A Picture ; My Grandfather / Alice Cary -- Our Homestead ; Homes For All (plea For The Homeless) ; The Barefoot Boy ; Granny's House / Phoebe Cary -- From Souvenirs Of My Time / Jessie Ann Benton Frémont -- Cheyenne Mountain ; From Echoes In The City Of Angels ; From Ramona : A Story. Chapter Ii / Helen Maria Fiske Hunt Jackson (h.h.), (marah), (saxe Holm) -- From A Lady's Life In The Rocky Mountains, Letter Vii / Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop -- From The Squatter And The Don : A Novel Descriptive Of Contemporary Occurrences In California. Chapter Iii / María Amparo Ruiz De Burton (c. Loyal) -- From Personal Studies Of Indian Life. Politics And 'pipe-dancing' ; Tribal Life Among The Omahas / Alice Cunningham Fletcher -- California ; In The Grand Cañon ; With A Wreath Of Laurel ; Listening Back / Ina Donna Coolbrith (josephine Donna Smith) -- From Tenting On The Plains, Or, General Custer In Kansas And Texas. Chapter Xv ; From Boots And Saddles, Or, Life In Dakota With General Custer. Chapter Xxix / Elizabeth Clift Bacon Custer -- Letter From Sara Winnemucca, An Educated Pah-ute Woman ; The Pah-utes / Sara Winnemucca Hopkins -- From Vanished Arizona : Recollections Of My Army Life. Chapter Xxiv; Chapter Xxix / Martha Dunham Summerhays -- The Skeleton On Round Island / Mary Hartwell Catherwood -- From A California Mining Camp ; From Pictures Of The Far West / Mary Hallock Foote -- How The Pump Stopped At The Morning Watch / Mary Hallock Foote -- Curfew Must Not Ring To-night ; From The White Lady Of La Jolla / Rose Hartwick Thorpe -- From Fifteen Thousand Miles By Stage, Chapter Iii / Carrie Adell Green Strahorn -- Nedawi / Susette La Flesche (bright Eyes) -- The Vengeance Of Padre Arroyo / Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton -- From Summer Cañons ; A Cycle ; From Two Sonnets Of Lost Love. Ii. Before Burial ; From The Biography Of A Baby / Milicent Washburn Shinn (m.w.s.) -- California Colors ; Santa Clara Hills ; An Honest Woman / Charlotte Anna Perkins Stetson Gilman -- Ashes Of Roses ; The Wood-chopper To His Ax ; Pima Tales / Elaine Goodale Eastman -- Leaves From The Mental Portfolio Of An Eurasian / Edith Maude Eaton (sui Sin Far) -- Preface To The Land Of Little Rain / Mary Hunter Austin -- Pahawitz-na'an ; Neither Spirit Nor Bird (shoshone Love Song) / Mary Hunter Austin -- Out West (the West) ; His Place ; Arizona ; The Fruit Of The Yucca Tree / Sharlot Mabridth Hall --- Prairie Dawn ; Prairie Spring ; From The Song Of The Lark, Part Iv ; The Enchanted Bluff / Willa Sibert Cather -- The Song Of The Hopi Chief ; Lololomai's Prayer / Natalie Curtis Burlin -- From Impressions Of An Indian Childhood. I. My Mother ; Vi. The Ground Squirrel ; From School Days Of An Indian Girl. V. Iron Routine ; Vii. Incurring My Mother's Displeasure ; From An Indian Teacher Among Indians. Iii. My Mother's Curse Upon White Settlers / Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (zitkala-sa) -- From Letters From A Woman Homesteader / Elinore Pruitt Rupert Stewart -- Red Earth. Muy Vieja Mexicana ; On The Acequia Madre ; El Rito De Santa Fe /alice Corbin Henderson -- Candle-light And Sun. Candle-light ; The Mask ; Rain-prayer ; Fame ; Song Of Sunlight / Alice Corbin Henderson. Edited By Susan Cummins Miller. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contains nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and occasional writings from women of Anglo, Chinese, Hispanic, and Native American ethnicity who published during the settlement years of the American frontier. Addresses themes such as isolation, drudgery, friendship, mourning, and even mysticism while providing insight into women's experiences. Includes brief biographical and historical information about each writer An engaging collection that represents the work of thirty-four writers who were originally published during the settlement years of the American frontier. Each selection is prefaced by informative biographical information.