What do you think?
Rate this book
Montana Women Homesteaders: A Field of One's Own
In Montana Women A Field of One's Own, author and historian Sarah Carter introduces the voices and images of women who filed on 160- or 320-acre homestead plots in Montana. Single, widowed, divorced, or deserted, women varied in ages, educational levels, and ethnic backgrounds, but all proved up on their homesteads. In published accounts, scrapbooks, personal reminiscences, and photographs, the women recorded their remarkable journeys. Carter reveals inspiring stories filled with joy, tragedy, and redemption.
296 pages, Paperback
First published August 12, 2009
31 people are currently reading
382 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
February 11, 2010
I received this book for Christmas. I moved to Montana within the past year to be closer to my fiance, who grew up here. In fact, his great grandmother is featured in this book (Chapter 6). My fiance's family still farms on the land that his great grandmother homesteaded, and this year, 2010, will actually be the 100 year anniversary her homestead claim. This is the land I will be living on after my fiance and I get married in a year and a half. If for no other reason than this, it was important to me to read this book.
All that being said, it is an excellent compilation of different types of memoirs, journals, and scrapbooks of these women, stronger than me, who settled this still-wild land. If you are interested in western history, or women's history, it is an interesting read.
As an added bonus, some of the women were really very excellent writers. My favorite chapter in the book was "Cabin O'Wildwinds: The Story of a Montana Ranch," written by Ada Melville Shaw, who filed on her land in 1911, and received patent to it in 1915. Ms. Shaw not only described in vivid detail what her life was like on the homestead, it was written with a wonderfully expressive linguistic style:
" I was familiar with every foot of my quarter section and the adjoining acres were the same as mine. I knew the roads and trails. I knew who lived in the widely-scattered shacks that winked their evening eyes at me; there was no wild life to fear-- coyotes are cowards and they were the chiefest of the untamed things that still survived the coming of man. I would watch the sun go down-- and the magnificence of those sunsets are beyond any power of mine to describe, would watch gentle night slowly slip into the room of day and know beyond a peradventure that the face of the plains was unchanged save for the venturing forth of small and harmless beasties that would flee before my slightest move." (p226)
There is a good variety of accounts of homesteading life in this book-- Just like the women who wrote them, some are very positive, encouraging, and optimistic, and others are less so. The common thread throughout is the emphasis on just how tough it was, amongst drought and hard times, and being a woman. This book will give you sharp insight into this lifestyle that few have chosen.
All that being said, it is an excellent compilation of different types of memoirs, journals, and scrapbooks of these women, stronger than me, who settled this still-wild land. If you are interested in western history, or women's history, it is an interesting read.
As an added bonus, some of the women were really very excellent writers. My favorite chapter in the book was "Cabin O'Wildwinds: The Story of a Montana Ranch," written by Ada Melville Shaw, who filed on her land in 1911, and received patent to it in 1915. Ms. Shaw not only described in vivid detail what her life was like on the homestead, it was written with a wonderfully expressive linguistic style:
" I was familiar with every foot of my quarter section and the adjoining acres were the same as mine. I knew the roads and trails. I knew who lived in the widely-scattered shacks that winked their evening eyes at me; there was no wild life to fear-- coyotes are cowards and they were the chiefest of the untamed things that still survived the coming of man. I would watch the sun go down-- and the magnificence of those sunsets are beyond any power of mine to describe, would watch gentle night slowly slip into the room of day and know beyond a peradventure that the face of the plains was unchanged save for the venturing forth of small and harmless beasties that would flee before my slightest move." (p226)
There is a good variety of accounts of homesteading life in this book-- Just like the women who wrote them, some are very positive, encouraging, and optimistic, and others are less so. The common thread throughout is the emphasis on just how tough it was, amongst drought and hard times, and being a woman. This book will give you sharp insight into this lifestyle that few have chosen.
May 10, 2020
Thank you to Alberta historian Sarah Carter for travelling south of the border and compiling this collection of letters, journal entries and articles written by Montana women homesteaders. Since single women were not allowed to homestead in Canada (although widows did qualify), there is much more information available about our American sisters who were allowed to homestead as single women. Of course, women's experiences are NEVER recorded in history as fully or frequently as those of men, so finding this book was a real treat. What they suffered!
January 25, 2023
I bought this book in a ghost town in Montana during a road trip in the middle of Covid. The trip itself was so miserable I'll never return to the state, but this book made the whole thing worthwhile. It contains amazing stories of brave and adventurous women. I loved imagining myself traveling with them, homesteading with next to nothing. Their love of neighbors and strangers had me missing the world during a different time. Clearly, this sentiment doesn't seem to age well in Montana.
I found it a fabulous read and would recommend it for anyone interested in daily life history of women in the early 1900s.
I found it a fabulous read and would recommend it for anyone interested in daily life history of women in the early 1900s.
May 12, 2018
If you have a particular interest in the early twentieth century social history of newcomer experiences on the far western prairies, you'll probably find this interesting. Sarah Carter has collected the writings of 13 single woman homesteaders in Montana. Carter introduces the collection and includes a brief biographical note before each sample, but this book is primarily made up of the words of the women themselves. If you've ever been curious about the experiences of the circumstances of single women proving up their own homestead claims, this short book is a wonderful read.
February 6, 2018
I’d give it a 2.5.
Interesting but a bit of a dry read.
Interesting but a bit of a dry read.
June 24, 2013
I just finished this book, and really loved it. The book devotes a chapter to each of a dozen or so women who filed claims on free land in Montana in the late 1800s to the 19-teens. They were required to live on the land and improve it (with crops, fencing and a house) for five years before getting the title to it. They were also required to be single, divorced, abandoned or otherwise heads of their households, as married women didn't qualify for land.
The book contains quite a few pictures of these tough women and their homesteads, and diary entries and letters from several of them. I am amazed that anybody could "prove up" a claim in that terribly dry, isolated place. The hunger, heat, cold, wind, sand, lack of water, crop failure, loss of livestock, lack of feminine companionship, and lack of medical care caused so many homesteaders to give up, and yet these women stayed and flourished.
If you enjoy books about the settling of the American West and the pioneer spirit, you will love this book!
The book contains quite a few pictures of these tough women and their homesteads, and diary entries and letters from several of them. I am amazed that anybody could "prove up" a claim in that terribly dry, isolated place. The hunger, heat, cold, wind, sand, lack of water, crop failure, loss of livestock, lack of feminine companionship, and lack of medical care caused so many homesteaders to give up, and yet these women stayed and flourished.
If you enjoy books about the settling of the American West and the pioneer spirit, you will love this book!
January 14, 2025
A fascinating account of the stories of women who homesteaded in Montana, writings from diaries, letters, and journals.
Book begins with the history of the Homesteading Act of 1862 that gave a person 160 acres. The Homestead Act of 1909 recognized more land was needed and increased acreage to 320. In 1912 Congress enacted the Three-Year Homestead Act that lowered the time to "prove up" from five years to three years.
Even to this day, many people are surprised to learn single women could homestead.
Many of the women had an idealized vision of the West which was promoted by the Railroads. The women were not prepared for the harsh realities of either homesteading or the Montana winters.
The chapter on Adelia Glover is one of the most informative and interesting. At the age of 80 Adelia wrote her memoirs so her children would know something of her life on the homestead. Adelia, like most women homesteaders, would work elsewhere in the area (teaching, clerking at a store, cooking for a ranch) to support herself. Adelia would return to the homestead in the spring and summer. Chapter has many photographs which add interest to Adelia's story and allow the reader to see the actual buildings and people.
Another interesting chapter is on Nannie Francis who would come from Redondo Beach, California with her mother and an Uncle to homestead near Lone Pine. They had cousins in the Lone Pine area so their transition to homesteading was easier than most. The Uncle would leave Montana within a year but Nannie and her mother would stay 4 years before permanently moving back to California. Nannie's writings make her time sound like a big adventure which is what I feel she was looking for!
The chapter of Janet Williams and other women Homesteaders is enhanced with photographs by Evelyn Cameron, who was a neighbor and a Rancher herself.
An interesting read for those interested in Women's History, History of Women in the West, History of Women Homesteaders and those interested in all things Montana!
Book begins with the history of the Homesteading Act of 1862 that gave a person 160 acres. The Homestead Act of 1909 recognized more land was needed and increased acreage to 320. In 1912 Congress enacted the Three-Year Homestead Act that lowered the time to "prove up" from five years to three years.
Even to this day, many people are surprised to learn single women could homestead.
Many of the women had an idealized vision of the West which was promoted by the Railroads. The women were not prepared for the harsh realities of either homesteading or the Montana winters.
The chapter on Adelia Glover is one of the most informative and interesting. At the age of 80 Adelia wrote her memoirs so her children would know something of her life on the homestead. Adelia, like most women homesteaders, would work elsewhere in the area (teaching, clerking at a store, cooking for a ranch) to support herself. Adelia would return to the homestead in the spring and summer. Chapter has many photographs which add interest to Adelia's story and allow the reader to see the actual buildings and people.
Another interesting chapter is on Nannie Francis who would come from Redondo Beach, California with her mother and an Uncle to homestead near Lone Pine. They had cousins in the Lone Pine area so their transition to homesteading was easier than most. The Uncle would leave Montana within a year but Nannie and her mother would stay 4 years before permanently moving back to California. Nannie's writings make her time sound like a big adventure which is what I feel she was looking for!
The chapter of Janet Williams and other women Homesteaders is enhanced with photographs by Evelyn Cameron, who was a neighbor and a Rancher herself.
An interesting read for those interested in Women's History, History of Women in the West, History of Women Homesteaders and those interested in all things Montana!
March 11, 2022
I just finished Montana Women Homesteaders, A Field of One's Own, edited by Sarah Carter. I so enjoyed reading about these brave women of around hundred years ago who for various reasons filed for land and lived life on the early Montana prairies. Some of the women had young children or other dependent family members, none with a spouse to share the hard labor. One trait some shared was the pride they took in keeping their home clean, their children in clean clothes. It is visible in the photo of Pearl Danniel in front of her privative cabin wearing a spotless white apron amid the dirt and clutter of her yard. This is a book to be read by any woman interested in how single gals could go about their dreams and hopes for a different life.
March 2, 2022
This book is a wonderful collection of stories about women who braved the unknown to try and make a new life for themselves. I enjoyed how the author gave background information about the area in the chapter then let the women tell their stories in their own words. I am amazed at how much they endured just to survive. It is a book that I will reread in the future.
August 25, 2024
I picked his book up at a bookstore in a small town in Montana while traveling through. Learned so much about the brave women, solo homesteaders, who faced so many hardships, but all powered through in a very difficult and challenging environment. Gives us a small glimpse into their lives and experiences. Had no idea about a lot of this history that you never learn about in school.
June 18, 2017
I read this book as part of research for a novel I'm writing. It provided detailed insight as to what life was like as an early farmer in eastern Montana. I found the book entertaining and generally fulfilling my purpose in reading it.
January 17, 2021
So little is written about women's homesteading experience and what there is charts that drama as a tepid backdrop to her husband's, brother's or father's story This book honours what women alone achieved against so many odds.
May 31, 2022
A part of history you don't hear about. The homestead act in th US was actually very progressive for the time allowing women to homestead on their own if they met certain requirements. This was quite interesting and gives an accurate account of 14 different women's stores.
September 10, 2022
The women who homesteaded in Montana in the early 20th century were made of some tough stuff! Harsh winters and extremely dry hot summers made ranching / farming near impossible. Such an interesting read although it took me a while to read because it got a bit boring in parts.
January 12, 2024
I feel like these types of books are a slower read but interesting. The grit these people had! Such courage. Especially these single women going in blindly like a fun adventure!!! I wish I had a tenth of their bravery and tenacity.
December 30, 2019
Interesting - lots of primary source material.
February 1, 2020
This was an interesting book and I would recommend it to history buffs. Others may find it a bit dry.
April 10, 2020
I could not put this book down. I love the stories and really wanted to know more about these women. You could feel and see through them their shacks, their land, their lives. I love it.
January 21, 2022
Biographies of many of the women homesteaders in Montana from the early 1900s. Fascinating stories of the hardships awaiting them.
December 1, 2024
Provides the reader a good understanding of the challenges women homesteaders faced in Montana using first hand accounts.
January 17, 2025
Loved reading about these brave tough women and the hardships they endured. Great book!
May 2, 2025
This is an interesting compilation of Montana Women Homesteaders, who truly exhibited True Grit.
May 14, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed these true stories of single women making a go of homesteading in Montana from 1870 through the late 1920s. Editor Sarah Carter introduces each chapter and gives the reader background information about the featured homesteader, but the bulk of each chapter is made up of the individual woman’s own words as she tells her own story.
One of my favorite chapters is Chapter 4, “The Sumatra Adventure: Grace Binks, Ina Dane, Margaret Majors.” This chapter contains selections from the scrapbook of Grace Binks Price, including photographs of her and her friends, their homesteads, and the “shacks” they lived in.
Chapter 7, “Evelyn Cameron Photographs of Janet (“Jennie”) Williams and Other Montana Women Homesteaders” is also (as the title tells us) rich with photographs of women making a life in the rough land that was Montana. I like seeing how they dressed to do their work, and I like to look at the homes where they lived their lives. (Some of the “shacks” look amazingly cozy and meticulously maintained.)
It was great to read the women’s own words about their experiences, although some accounts were written years (even decades) after the women left their homesteads, so it’s hard to know if their memories were tinted with rosy nostalgia.
I read this book when I had just arrived at a remote campground for summer work. The season hadn’t officially begun, and I was alone most of the time and doing physical labor I was unaccustomed to. While reading this book, I found inspiration in the tough, determined foremothers preserved in these pages. Many of them lived alone in tiny shacks, sometimes with no neighbors for miles and no transportation. They depended on their neighbors, but they depended primarily on themselves. The loneliness was in intense, the labor backbreaking, the weather destructive. Often the crops didn’t grow, the garden didn’t grow, and they had to work additional jobs for survival. One woman mentioned hurried to do her own chores on her claim each morning so she could walk six miles (and later six miles home!) in order to earn cash doing other people’s laundry.
The stories of these women reminded me how many conveniences I have in my life, and motivated me to be as strong as these Montana homesteaders.
One of my favorite chapters is Chapter 4, “The Sumatra Adventure: Grace Binks, Ina Dane, Margaret Majors.” This chapter contains selections from the scrapbook of Grace Binks Price, including photographs of her and her friends, their homesteads, and the “shacks” they lived in.
Chapter 7, “Evelyn Cameron Photographs of Janet (“Jennie”) Williams and Other Montana Women Homesteaders” is also (as the title tells us) rich with photographs of women making a life in the rough land that was Montana. I like seeing how they dressed to do their work, and I like to look at the homes where they lived their lives. (Some of the “shacks” look amazingly cozy and meticulously maintained.)
It was great to read the women’s own words about their experiences, although some accounts were written years (even decades) after the women left their homesteads, so it’s hard to know if their memories were tinted with rosy nostalgia.
I read this book when I had just arrived at a remote campground for summer work. The season hadn’t officially begun, and I was alone most of the time and doing physical labor I was unaccustomed to. While reading this book, I found inspiration in the tough, determined foremothers preserved in these pages. Many of them lived alone in tiny shacks, sometimes with no neighbors for miles and no transportation. They depended on their neighbors, but they depended primarily on themselves. The loneliness was in intense, the labor backbreaking, the weather destructive. Often the crops didn’t grow, the garden didn’t grow, and they had to work additional jobs for survival. One woman mentioned hurried to do her own chores on her claim each morning so she could walk six miles (and later six miles home!) in order to earn cash doing other people’s laundry.
The stories of these women reminded me how many conveniences I have in my life, and motivated me to be as strong as these Montana homesteaders.
May 14, 2020
Montana Women Homesteaders was a gift to me from my husband. He knows me so well! The book consists of letters from homesteading women in the early 1900s. Some of the women have a borderline feminist attitude but they are the exception not the rule. Most were just thrown a curve ball in life such as a husband's death. They had no choice but to make lemonade out of lemons. Life is not a walk in the park. There are bad times and good times, both of which these women were no strangers too. The women faced hard times such as drought, crop failure, delivering babies without proper knowledge, ill animals and sometimes the loss of the animals just to name a few. It's a firsthand account of survival and will power. Homesteading, especially back in the day, was not for the faint of the heart. If your crops failed you, you couldn't run to the store and buy back up produce. You most likely weren't even lucky enough to have a neighbor that had food to share. You had to survive on what you had. At times the women faced starvation. The women weren't always alone. Some had lady friends, children, brothers, mother's, etc join them on their stead but it was registered in their name and they were the sole care taker of the place. There was no pattern in ages. Some were young and some were old but they all shared one thing, the will to live. They survived. They shared their stories. They shared their pictures. They shared their documents. It's a humbling read of history. While it is history it is not your highschool dry textbook. Pick it up. You'll be amazed at the strength of the women and will be ever so grateful for what you have. Also you won't see these women running around burning bras or crying for safe spaces. These are the real powerful women. They didn't think low of men. Some actually rather that their man was still alive so he could handle the dirty work and stress of life on a homestead in Montana. They did amazing things despite hardships thrown at them.
It's a great book. You won't regret reading it.
It's a great book. You won't regret reading it.
September 18, 2010
I actually found this book really fascinating. We went to Glacier National Park on vacation this summer, and since i've been cultivating a habit of reading something historical about the regions I visit, i picked this book up while we were there. It's mostly made up of personal accounts, many that were written as magazine articles or memoirs, with some letters, diary entries, official records, and a lot of great pictures. The variety of attitudes and experiences these women had under the same basic circumstances is very striking, and it's really amazing how distant and foreign this life seems, though only 100 years removed. An interesting book, an easy read, and the last couple of accounts are especially nicely written.
September 18, 2010
This was a really interesting book about women who homesteaded land on their own in Montana. This was at about 1910-1920. The book includes stories of some of these women. I was surprised that so many women homesteaded on their own without a husband. This was during the same time period that my grandparents were homesteading not too far north -- in Saskatchewan. It gave me a greater appreciation for the struggles they may have faced
August 7, 2015
This was a really interesting read. Some of the stories that were included were more inspiring than others. I really enjoyed reading about these brave women that decided to stike out on their own and make a place for themselves. I was unaware that land rights were granted to single women before reading this book. Very inspiring to hear about the grit and determination of some of the more stalwart of these amazing women.
June 14, 2012
I was surprised to learn that women homesteaders didn't do the major farming work themselves - they hired it out. As did a lot of the other (male and family) homesteaders. That didn't make anything easy, though. I can't believe I'm descended from people this tough. I need to go hug my clean, ample water and my furnace.
Read
December 31, 2013Montana Women Homesteaders: A Field of One's Own
This is a very interesting book composed of the stories of these remarkable women written in their own words. Each woman's story is prefaced by a short, well written background of the writer. Very nicely done. Great photos too. Thanks for an enjoyable read!
This is a very interesting book composed of the stories of these remarkable women written in their own words. Each woman's story is prefaced by a short, well written background of the writer. Very nicely done. Great photos too. Thanks for an enjoyable read!
June 5, 2016
I wasn't quite as happy with this as I have been with other accounts of Homesteaders. It wasn't enough... the stories were interesting but I never once got the feeling that I was seeing the real overall picture--just scratching the surface. The pictures were fantastic though...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews