Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West

by Harriet Rochlin, Fred Rochlin

When people think of the Jewish immigrant experience, it's usually the Lower East Side of New York that comes to mind. But, in fact, thousands of Jews lived in western mining towns and on ranches and trading posts in the late nineteenth century. In this "colorful history of Jewish settlers in the West . . . that stereotype of the urban Jew is vigorously and even exuberantly rejected" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES). PIONEER JEWS is a vivid and thorough chronicle of the lives, experiences, and contributions of the Jewish men and women who helped shape the American frontier.

Genres: Jewish, History, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

MY SIXTH GRADE TEACHER TOLD ME I WAS A WRITER. I LEARNED WHAT KIND WHEN I WAS IN MY FIFTIES.
By Harriet Rochlin

I was born in 1924 in Boyle Heights and spent my first twenty years in a house my parents built on newly converted ranchland. By the time I was four, the street was lined with residences, all occupied by Jewish families. Playmates abounded; a few became lifelong friends. Radically different, and no less influential in forming my lifelong views, were the thirteen years I spent in public schools in Boyle Heights.

All served a wide ethnic and racial mix—Jews, Mexicans, Japanese, also some Russians, Greeks, Armenians, Italians, as well as a smattering of American Blacks and Anglos. Trained to forestall prejudice, our teachers enjoined us to honor our families' beliefs and customs and to acquaint ourselves with those of our classmates. Additional inducements included multicultural goodies, stories, songs, plays and native costume parades.

In 1965, as the ethnic history movement grew, someone asked me what I knew about Jews in the early West. Nothing was my response. In the next 30 years, I published 18 articles on the subject, delivered 152 speeches and co-produced the landmark illustrated social history, Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West, published by Houghton Mifflin from 1984 to 2010. I wrote the text; Fred Rochlin gathered the photographs. The 11th printing is scheduled for republication by the Authors Guild in Fall 2013. The review on the front reads: "Social history at its best—entertaining, engaging, and filled with little-known information about famous and not-so-famous Jewish pioneers." San Francisco Chronicle

Last, and most intimately imagined, is my fictional Desert Dwellers Trilogy. Rewarding as it is to have my facts accepted and my opinions endorsed, when it comes to fiction, I'm truly touched when readers and critics are emotionally stirred by the characters and the background I've created. The following includes three reviews, one for each of the novels:

The Reformer's Apprentice: A Novel of Old San Francisco. "Rochlin is a superb interpreter of Jewish types and Jewish activities in the West . . . but best of all the juices of life flow in every man and woman." C.L. Sonnichsen, Journal of Arizona History

The First Lady of Dos Cacahuates. "The author serves up enough period charm, crackling storytelling and priceless details to satisfy devotees of both wild west lore and Jewish history." Publishers Weekly

On Her Way Home. "Rochlin offers a fascinating tale of the Old West from a Jewish perspective that is not often found in books, while her expertise in early Arizona life will appeal to all western afficionados." Booklist, American Library Association

Reviews

[Ronn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book about the Jews who pioneered in the American southwest. I was expecting that the would be more about crypto Jews, but there are other books. I did not know before this that Emperor Norton was Jewish!

[Cheryl]

pima is in-library use only

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually have the newest edition of this book, published in 2014, but don't see it among the Goodreads choices. As this deeply researched, terrifically readable history by Harriet and Fred Rochlin makes clear, Jewish immigrants to America in the 19th century didn’t just settle in New York or Chicago. Many followed the great migration to the West. Jews rode the range on cattle ranches – I kid you not, one of my favorite features in the book is a two-page spread of cattle brands used by Jewish ranchers. Jews wore lawmen’s badges – Emil Harris was a Los Angeles police chief known who, the Rochlins write, “captured bank robbers, solved murders and larcenies, controlled the flourishing opium dens and brothels, and cracked down on juvenile delinquency.”

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, full of stories about Jewish individuals & families in the American west. Parts were dry & repetitive, but I enjoyed the many pictures & anecdotes. The book seemed to focus on the "upper echelon" of Jewish immigrants, the huge success stories- possibly because the author could find the most information about these people. But, it did give a 1-sided slant to this history