Life in Prairie Land

by Eliza Woodson Burhans Farnham

Combining descriptive travel writing, autobiography, and the depth of the extended essay, Life in Prairie Land--back in print in this new edition--is a classic account of everyday life in early Illinois. Eliza Farnham, a New Yorker who would become one of the leading feminists of her time, describes the nearly five years she spent living in the prairie land of Tazewell County.
 
Life in Prairie Land is a complex portrait of the midwestern wilderness during the 1830s--beautiful and ugly, beneficent and threatening. Farnham's vivid recreation of her experiences on the Illinois frontier offers a realistic depiction of the harsh pioneer lifestyle as well as a romantic view of an Edenic landscape.
 
Life in Prairie Land includes descriptions of Farnham's encounters with early settlers and Native Americans, her eye-opening experiences with birth and death, the flora and fauna that surrounded her, and the developing towns she passed through in her travels. Farnham's years on the Illinois frontier showed her the possibilities of a less restrictive society and planted the seeds that would later grow into firmly held and eloquently expressed views on women's equality.
 

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Westerns, Memoir, Biography, 19th Century

269 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1988

Reviews

[Karen French · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating Look at life back then

If you are a fan of Oregon trail diaries and stories of the old west, you will find this book interesting. However, her writing style is difficult, flowery, with vocabulary that often left me wondering just what she was talking about and wishing she had just used plain language to tell her story. A fascinating look at the wild freedom and harsh realities of the lives of the first western settlers who built this country and make you wish you had lived the journey with them.

[Pat Lawlor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book written by a woman who spent a few years in mid-Illinois around Peoria from 1836-1843. The descriptions of how they gathered their furniture, built a house, prepared dinner, and survived a wildfire are very interesting, and reminded me of the Little House books. A great read for anyone interested in that time period or prairie living in general

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting point of view on life during the nineteenth century. The woman who narrates the book is definitely well read and of a higher class but her descriptions are very vivid and seem to keep with those of others of the time period's recollections. It is a long book but worth time it took to get through the book.

[Vfischer · Rating 1 out of 5]

this is the most boring book i have ever read...i have been flipping fast through so many of the chapters. started out fairly easy to read but not now and i am just flipping through to see how the book finally ends. she is the most self absorbed person i have ever encountered. and hopefully there aren't any more like her. to be an author..i wonder if she ever sat down and read her book through..so dissappointed. have archived it twice in kindle while i read something else and decided to finish it this time.

[Bonsai]

Too florid and caricatured.

[Susannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm giving up on finishing this book. The author is really full of herself, and the book is boring. Ugh.

[Richard Caniglia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obtuse prose, even for the day.