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Land of the Burnt Thigh: A Lively Story of Women Homesteaders on the South Dakota Frontier
This tale of two sisters courageously homesteading on the prairie in 1907 provides a lively portrait of frontier life.
"Interesting in its spirit and atmosphere, and it is told simply and well. . . This is an unusual record, well worth reading."—New York Times Book Review
"Mrs. Kohl has told this story of South Dakota with a simplicity, a directness, and an understanding of its quietly heroic element which make her book an appealing as well as a significant contribution to the latter-day history of the pioneers."-Saturday Review
"Interesting in its spirit and atmosphere, and it is told simply and well. . . This is an unusual record, well worth reading."—New York Times Book Review
"Mrs. Kohl has told this story of South Dakota with a simplicity, a directness, and an understanding of its quietly heroic element which make her book an appealing as well as a significant contribution to the latter-day history of the pioneers."-Saturday Review
332 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1938
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September 14, 2018
Usually a book written about pioneer days and homesteading takes place in the 1800's, with covered wagons, horse teams or oxen, and wary settlers keeping an eye out for hostile Indians.
This book, written in 1938, tells the story of another type of pioneer homesteader. The people who went into South Dakota during the early 1900's. I must have missed this topic in my school history classes. I remember reading about the Oklahoma Sooners, but nothing at all about this later settlement of lands in South Dakota, let alone the parts about how the US government took 'waste' land from the Indian Reservations and opened it up for homesteaders. Typical, isn't it. Shove the people that are in your way out of the way, and then steal even more from them when you decide you need a little more elbow room. After all, if the white man is not on the land forcing it to become field and farm, the land is just being wasted, right? Grr.
In her preface the author states:
I have not attempted in this book to write an autobiography. This is not my story—it is the story of the people, the present-day pioneers, who settled on that part of the public lands called the Great American Desert, and wrested a living from it at a personal cost of privation and suffering.
But her story is of course part and parcel of the whole. Edith and her sister Ida Mary took a claim on 160 acres in South Dakota, intending to sell it after staying long enough to earn their deed of title. Edith shares their adventures, and at times it is difficult to remind yourself of the date of their grand adventure. It was 1907! And yet conditions were just as harsh and primitive has they had been for pioneers everywhere years earlier. Except for the fact that many homesteaders arrived in gas-powered vehicles instead of horse drawn wagons. But the essentials were the same. Food, fuel, water: the basics necessary for life were just as problematic to find as ever before.
On one hand I did enjoy the book, and had to admire the endurance of Edith and her sister in their day to day struggles. But there is such an attitude of....of....I don't know what to call it. Hubris seems like a good word. There was definitely the idea that the land was only worth something once the homesteaders arrived and tore it up with their plows. Never mind the ecosystem that was destroyed in the process. Never mind that lands with regular drought years were never meant to be huge farms. Never mind that there were people who were supposedly owners of the land already. Just let the homesteaders arrive and NOW the land is finally valuable.
I know at the time none of that would have crossed the minds of anyone involved. Edith herself saw the settling of the area as a grand movement.
There was a depression in the East and jobs were hard to get; with the growth of factories many young men and women had flocked from farms and villages to cities, and they were not finding conditions to their liking. They wanted to return to the life they knew best, the life of the farm. In the more populous sections the price of land was rising and was already beyond the reach of many pocketbooks. There remained only Public Land—land which was allotted to the Indians.
The government, accordingly, began to withdraw from the Indian Allotments great tracts, by further treaties and deals, slashing boundary lines, relegating the Indians to the unceded part of the land. The great tracts thus acquired were then surveyed into quarter-sections and thrown open to homesteading. In order to prevent the violence which had attended the Oklahoma land opening, a new method was hit upon. A proclamation was issued by President Theodore Roosevelt, announcing the opening of land on the Lower Brulé Indian Reservation.
This explains the title, as this area was called the Land Of The Burnt Thigh. Edith does not tell us about this until chapter 13 of 16, but the reason for the name was a huge prairie fire many many years before. A fire in which three young Sioux managed to survive, but were left with burns on their legs, which earned the area its name. Ida Mary and Edith were not content with their first plot of land, they upped and moved themselves to this new section and established a post office, general store, and newspaper, eventually becoming the center of the new settlement.
There are blizzards, fires, drought, everything the prairie could throw at the homesteaders. Many left, many more stayed and stuck it out. They created a community. But I still felt sorry for the Indians, who were given a raw deal once again and portrayed as lazy, dirty, ignorant creatures with no sense of any kind. I hated that. And I hated the idea that the land had to be 'subdued'. This has been the problem since day one: you get to a new country and instead of learning how that country works, learning how to live with the country on its terms (like the Indians did) you force it to be something you remember from your past. And then you wonder why life is so hard, with invasions of snakes who have lost their homes and hunting grounds, and fierce storms that eventually blow away all the topsoil that the prairie grass used to hold down.
Okay. Deep breath. This was a good book for the style of writing, and for telling the history of a section of American past that I knew nothing about. It may have made me angry and disgusted, but in my younger days I would have been proud of what the homesteaders accomplished. I am afraid I am too fed up with governments and people in general these days to be proud of such things.
This book, written in 1938, tells the story of another type of pioneer homesteader. The people who went into South Dakota during the early 1900's. I must have missed this topic in my school history classes. I remember reading about the Oklahoma Sooners, but nothing at all about this later settlement of lands in South Dakota, let alone the parts about how the US government took 'waste' land from the Indian Reservations and opened it up for homesteaders. Typical, isn't it. Shove the people that are in your way out of the way, and then steal even more from them when you decide you need a little more elbow room. After all, if the white man is not on the land forcing it to become field and farm, the land is just being wasted, right? Grr.
In her preface the author states:
I have not attempted in this book to write an autobiography. This is not my story—it is the story of the people, the present-day pioneers, who settled on that part of the public lands called the Great American Desert, and wrested a living from it at a personal cost of privation and suffering.
But her story is of course part and parcel of the whole. Edith and her sister Ida Mary took a claim on 160 acres in South Dakota, intending to sell it after staying long enough to earn their deed of title. Edith shares their adventures, and at times it is difficult to remind yourself of the date of their grand adventure. It was 1907! And yet conditions were just as harsh and primitive has they had been for pioneers everywhere years earlier. Except for the fact that many homesteaders arrived in gas-powered vehicles instead of horse drawn wagons. But the essentials were the same. Food, fuel, water: the basics necessary for life were just as problematic to find as ever before.
On one hand I did enjoy the book, and had to admire the endurance of Edith and her sister in their day to day struggles. But there is such an attitude of....of....I don't know what to call it. Hubris seems like a good word. There was definitely the idea that the land was only worth something once the homesteaders arrived and tore it up with their plows. Never mind the ecosystem that was destroyed in the process. Never mind that lands with regular drought years were never meant to be huge farms. Never mind that there were people who were supposedly owners of the land already. Just let the homesteaders arrive and NOW the land is finally valuable.
I know at the time none of that would have crossed the minds of anyone involved. Edith herself saw the settling of the area as a grand movement.
There was a depression in the East and jobs were hard to get; with the growth of factories many young men and women had flocked from farms and villages to cities, and they were not finding conditions to their liking. They wanted to return to the life they knew best, the life of the farm. In the more populous sections the price of land was rising and was already beyond the reach of many pocketbooks. There remained only Public Land—land which was allotted to the Indians.
The government, accordingly, began to withdraw from the Indian Allotments great tracts, by further treaties and deals, slashing boundary lines, relegating the Indians to the unceded part of the land. The great tracts thus acquired were then surveyed into quarter-sections and thrown open to homesteading. In order to prevent the violence which had attended the Oklahoma land opening, a new method was hit upon. A proclamation was issued by President Theodore Roosevelt, announcing the opening of land on the Lower Brulé Indian Reservation.
This explains the title, as this area was called the Land Of The Burnt Thigh. Edith does not tell us about this until chapter 13 of 16, but the reason for the name was a huge prairie fire many many years before. A fire in which three young Sioux managed to survive, but were left with burns on their legs, which earned the area its name. Ida Mary and Edith were not content with their first plot of land, they upped and moved themselves to this new section and established a post office, general store, and newspaper, eventually becoming the center of the new settlement.
There are blizzards, fires, drought, everything the prairie could throw at the homesteaders. Many left, many more stayed and stuck it out. They created a community. But I still felt sorry for the Indians, who were given a raw deal once again and portrayed as lazy, dirty, ignorant creatures with no sense of any kind. I hated that. And I hated the idea that the land had to be 'subdued'. This has been the problem since day one: you get to a new country and instead of learning how that country works, learning how to live with the country on its terms (like the Indians did) you force it to be something you remember from your past. And then you wonder why life is so hard, with invasions of snakes who have lost their homes and hunting grounds, and fierce storms that eventually blow away all the topsoil that the prairie grass used to hold down.
Okay. Deep breath. This was a good book for the style of writing, and for telling the history of a section of American past that I knew nothing about. It may have made me angry and disgusted, but in my younger days I would have been proud of what the homesteaders accomplished. I am afraid I am too fed up with governments and people in general these days to be proud of such things.
May 24, 2020
This is an astounding story of two young sisters who homesteaded in the wilderness of South Dakota. They are an embodiment of American entrepreneurial spirit, deciding to start a newspaper, a post office, and a general store on their claim. The memoir was written by Edith (Ammons) Kohl, a wonderful storyteller who describes not only the drought and blizzards that plagued the homesteaders, but the political framework that surrounded the opening of the west. There's also a supporting cast of highly entertaining characters, including fellow homesteaders, cowboys, and indigenous people. This book is just a gem, both for its educational component and its very readable style. I simply marvelled at the challenges these girls faced, and their indomitable spirit.
October 31, 2014
Oh this book! So many things to think about. Two young and very tiny sisters move out west for the last round of homesteading in the United States during the early 1900s. I always love the independent woman success story, which this is, in its way. They leave Chicago unprepared, with no money, little supplies - just the overwhelming desire to start a new life and have something of their own. The book is long, although the majority of it covers just two years. I kept looking back - all of this happened in such a short time span? These women hustled in every way conceivable (well, they never succumbed to the oldest profession...) to survive and make a dollar to stay afloat another month. I spent half my time reading being shocked at how much they had to endure. "I think it occurred to them for the first time that this was a land where one had to begin at the beginning."
I was always rooting for them, but I recently had watched the documentary on the great depression and couldn't help but wonder. These homesteaders thought they were being patriotic and performing their American duty to civilize this land. As the author states, "The buffalo and the Indian had each had his day on this land, and each had gone without leaving a trace." "After all, anyone can file on a claim. It's the people who stay who build the country."
Their homesteading was really setting the stage for a decade of the dust bowl and a century of water shortages. They were hauling in water for miles, and none of the wells were producing any water. The author notes that water soon became the primary issue of living in the west:
"And, ironically enough, it occurred to no one to ask about the water supply."
"Thirst became an obsession with us all, men and animals alike."
"Then one scorching afternoon the drillers gave a whoop as they brought up the drill. 'Oil! Oil! There's oil on this drill. Damned if we ain't struck oil!'
Tim Carter's straight portly figure drooped. He put his hands in his pockets, staring aghast at the evidence before him. 'Oil', he shouted. 'Who in the hell wants oil? Nobody but Rockefeller. It's water we want!' A discouraged, disheartened group, they turned away."
I live out west in a town that was conceived around that same time. Water and the lack of it is never far from my mind. New development only worsens the issue. After I read this book I realized that my happy little town had displaced Native Americans and put undue stress on the land. Do I want to move? No - just like the author and her sister, I love this place and want to make it work.
I highly recommend this book for all of the levels of discussion it brings: independent women, entrepreneurship, Native American history, ecology, a history of homesteading just four generations ago.
I was always rooting for them, but I recently had watched the documentary on the great depression and couldn't help but wonder. These homesteaders thought they were being patriotic and performing their American duty to civilize this land. As the author states, "The buffalo and the Indian had each had his day on this land, and each had gone without leaving a trace." "After all, anyone can file on a claim. It's the people who stay who build the country."
Their homesteading was really setting the stage for a decade of the dust bowl and a century of water shortages. They were hauling in water for miles, and none of the wells were producing any water. The author notes that water soon became the primary issue of living in the west:
"And, ironically enough, it occurred to no one to ask about the water supply."
"Thirst became an obsession with us all, men and animals alike."
"Then one scorching afternoon the drillers gave a whoop as they brought up the drill. 'Oil! Oil! There's oil on this drill. Damned if we ain't struck oil!'
Tim Carter's straight portly figure drooped. He put his hands in his pockets, staring aghast at the evidence before him. 'Oil', he shouted. 'Who in the hell wants oil? Nobody but Rockefeller. It's water we want!' A discouraged, disheartened group, they turned away."
I live out west in a town that was conceived around that same time. Water and the lack of it is never far from my mind. New development only worsens the issue. After I read this book I realized that my happy little town had displaced Native Americans and put undue stress on the land. Do I want to move? No - just like the author and her sister, I love this place and want to make it work.
I highly recommend this book for all of the levels of discussion it brings: independent women, entrepreneurship, Native American history, ecology, a history of homesteading just four generations ago.
February 13, 2012
This book is probably the most amazing and engrossing memoir I've ever read. First published in 1938, it is Edith Eudora Kohl's account of homesteading in South Dakota with her sister in the first decade of the 20th century. One point that she stresses in this book is that the American frontier lasted much longer that is usually acknowledged—a fact I'd noted before in the late setting of many Western novels by authors who lived at that time. The last wave of pioneers, one of the largest, continued right up until the U.S. entry into World War 1. This book is a story of those later homesteading days, which were every bit as challenging as the early ones.
Although it might seem surprising, young single women homesteading alone or in groups was not uncommon. Many different types of people—in fact you might say every type imaginable—filed on homestead claims, for a variety of reasons. The Ammons sisters' reasons for leaving St. Louis for South Dakota, a combination of health and financial reasons, were common to many. For a number of young people, both men and women, homesteading was a temporary affair, a few months of holding down a claim to gain ownership of land that they could sell or mortgage to get a start in whatever life they had chosen. Others saw the value in the land itself, and with the industrialization of the East, land prices had become so high there that homesteading on the Western plains was their only opportunity. The more permanent settlers sometimes looked down on those who got their deed and left the land without improving it, calling them 'landgrabbers.'
But Edith and Ida Mary Ammons stayed—although the first time they saw their isolated claim and tar-paper shack they wanted nothing more than to head back home first thing the next morning. How they slowly became accustomed to their surroundings, made the shack into a home and eventually grew to love the prairie land that seemed so desolate at first, is only a small part of the story. A casual offer of a job, and Edith was running the local "proof-sheet" newspaper—an institution that came into being to publish the settlers' notices of proving up required by law. Then came the opening of the Lower Brule Indian reservation to homesteaders. The book vividly describes the crowds of thousands that crammed into the tiny settlements to register for the huge lottery that awarded claims to the Lucky Numbers drawn. As the new settlers flowed in, the Ammons girls moved onto a homestead in the Brule, and before long were running their own newspaper, the post office, a general store and Indian trading post, becoming influential figures in the new and growing community.
Their story is filled with too many adventures to be briefly described. They barely survived a fierce blizzard, helped to outwit claim-jumpers, lived through a plague of rattlesnakes, a severe drought, and prairie fires—and no matter what happened, the mail had to go through and the newspaper had to be printed. The Land of the Burnt Thigh (the title, by the way, comes from the Indians' name for the Brule, the story behind which is explained in the book) was filled with colorful characters, from cowboys to Indians to the many different settlers who became the Ammons girls' neighbors and friends. The book is well and engagingly written, so filled with interesting detail and incidents that it kept me eagerly turning the pages—well, clicking away at the Kindle page-turner, to be precise.
Although it might seem surprising, young single women homesteading alone or in groups was not uncommon. Many different types of people—in fact you might say every type imaginable—filed on homestead claims, for a variety of reasons. The Ammons sisters' reasons for leaving St. Louis for South Dakota, a combination of health and financial reasons, were common to many. For a number of young people, both men and women, homesteading was a temporary affair, a few months of holding down a claim to gain ownership of land that they could sell or mortgage to get a start in whatever life they had chosen. Others saw the value in the land itself, and with the industrialization of the East, land prices had become so high there that homesteading on the Western plains was their only opportunity. The more permanent settlers sometimes looked down on those who got their deed and left the land without improving it, calling them 'landgrabbers.'
But Edith and Ida Mary Ammons stayed—although the first time they saw their isolated claim and tar-paper shack they wanted nothing more than to head back home first thing the next morning. How they slowly became accustomed to their surroundings, made the shack into a home and eventually grew to love the prairie land that seemed so desolate at first, is only a small part of the story. A casual offer of a job, and Edith was running the local "proof-sheet" newspaper—an institution that came into being to publish the settlers' notices of proving up required by law. Then came the opening of the Lower Brule Indian reservation to homesteaders. The book vividly describes the crowds of thousands that crammed into the tiny settlements to register for the huge lottery that awarded claims to the Lucky Numbers drawn. As the new settlers flowed in, the Ammons girls moved onto a homestead in the Brule, and before long were running their own newspaper, the post office, a general store and Indian trading post, becoming influential figures in the new and growing community.
Their story is filled with too many adventures to be briefly described. They barely survived a fierce blizzard, helped to outwit claim-jumpers, lived through a plague of rattlesnakes, a severe drought, and prairie fires—and no matter what happened, the mail had to go through and the newspaper had to be printed. The Land of the Burnt Thigh (the title, by the way, comes from the Indians' name for the Brule, the story behind which is explained in the book) was filled with colorful characters, from cowboys to Indians to the many different settlers who became the Ammons girls' neighbors and friends. The book is well and engagingly written, so filled with interesting detail and incidents that it kept me eagerly turning the pages—well, clicking away at the Kindle page-turner, to be precise.
September 3, 2022
I loved this book. I am from South Dakota and a woman, so I thought it would be interesting. And it was. I didn't realize that so many single women came and homesteaded. You always think of couples or, like Little House on the Prairie, families. This was about two sisters who needed a fresh start so they went out to try their luck.
There were parts of this book that I recognized - the descriptions of the rolling prairie and the unforgiving but sometimes generous soil. She talks about towns that I recognize and others that have faded into obscurity.
She speaks candidly of blizzards, fires, their Indian neighbors, and the neighbors. I really enjoyed it. I spent the next day feeling grateful for food, for air conditioning, and how hard my ancestors worked.
There were parts of this book that I recognized - the descriptions of the rolling prairie and the unforgiving but sometimes generous soil. She talks about towns that I recognize and others that have faded into obscurity.
She speaks candidly of blizzards, fires, their Indian neighbors, and the neighbors. I really enjoyed it. I spent the next day feeling grateful for food, for air conditioning, and how hard my ancestors worked.
March 7, 2019
Impressive! Two courageous sisters set out for South Dakota in the early 1900's from Illinois to homestead in the Land of the Burnt Thigh. The descriptions are explicit and descriptive. Whether Edith is telling about the land, the weather conditions, the living conditions, the challenges and dangers, or the people, she gives an unromantic account of her experience.
Edith and Ida Mary have grit. The shack is a shack--covered with tar paper that is ripped off by the South Dakota winds. The same winds drive dust, snow, ice, and rain through the slats and knot holes in the slatted shack. Rattle snakes come up under the floor boards and in through the doors. The coyotes howl outside the front window. The storm storm lasts longer than the coal. The women tie a quilt around their waists so that they don't get separated, find their way to the new fence posts piled for spring and shove them in the "monkey stove" to burn for warmth.
In all of this trial and tribulation, the sisters establish a printing press for news and proof papers, a grocery store, and a post office. The Ammon sisters are considered odd and "outlaw printers" for instigating organization and cooperation among the homesteaders. Unlike some who left immediately after "proving up" and more like many who stayed, the girls "prove up" their homestead claim and decide to settle.
This book is the first account. This book and the two following non-fiction accounts are taken from Edith Eudora Kohl's journals and pieced together after her death by her nephew.
Edith and Ida Mary have grit. The shack is a shack--covered with tar paper that is ripped off by the South Dakota winds. The same winds drive dust, snow, ice, and rain through the slats and knot holes in the slatted shack. Rattle snakes come up under the floor boards and in through the doors. The coyotes howl outside the front window. The storm storm lasts longer than the coal. The women tie a quilt around their waists so that they don't get separated, find their way to the new fence posts piled for spring and shove them in the "monkey stove" to burn for warmth.
In all of this trial and tribulation, the sisters establish a printing press for news and proof papers, a grocery store, and a post office. The Ammon sisters are considered odd and "outlaw printers" for instigating organization and cooperation among the homesteaders. Unlike some who left immediately after "proving up" and more like many who stayed, the girls "prove up" their homestead claim and decide to settle.
This book is the first account. This book and the two following non-fiction accounts are taken from Edith Eudora Kohl's journals and pieced together after her death by her nephew.
April 4, 2008
This book is an incredible insight into the lives of the men, women and children who "conquered" South Dakota. Centered around "Women Homesteaders", this book is not only educational but also humorous. When you're feeling like life's not being fair because your computer has crashed, your car has broken down or your ATM card was eaten by a machine, try reading "Land of the Burnt Thigh" and realize just how lucky we are in this era! ;D Definitely a very good book which I would recommend to anyone interested in history, and in particular to family historians whose ancestors lived during this time in South Dakota! :D
June 14, 2020
The Land of the Burnt Thigh by Edith Eudora Kohl is an interesting and well written recollection of the author's homesteading experience, along with her sister, in central South Dakota in 1907. It's a story of 2 inexperienced young sisters from St.Louis who homestead recently opened land near an Indian reservation. Their home is a 10ft. x 12ft. one room wooden structure with roof and sides covered with tarpaper. This is the story of how they were able to stay and prove their claim while enduring a blizzard, a drought and a fire. It is the kind of American history I never learned in school. Published in 1986.
January 26, 2012
I just finished reading Land of the Burnt Thigh (Borealis Books) by Edith Eudora Kohl. I found this book on our trip, but didn't have the money to buy it... I bought it from Amazon on payday. It was a really good book... I'm glad I bought it to read. I didn't think of homesteading as something that happened with in the last 100 years... but it was. if you are curious about what it was like... get this book... She really tells the story well. its not just about her and her sister, but also about the other people around them! :) Another worthy read.
April 25, 2025
Loved this account of women homesteaders and the experiences/trial they went through to prove up their land.
April 29, 2023
2.5 stars. Listened to the audiobook which helped a lot. This is more of an informational book than entertaining story. I learned a lot about early homesteading. Very slow at first.
Read
May 18, 2015Great read. I didn't realize there were so many single Pioneer women who had settled the west.loved the humor laced into the book along with the real life harsh conditions. I'm so proud of the strong women who came before me & others who took charge of their lives and gave us all the courage to take charge of our lives and the future of this country.
August 23, 2010
The spirit of the pioneer - specifically the pioneer woman shines through in this true tail of adventure and life!
October 22, 2019
Here in these 17 chapters is a colorful account of a time that could be described as the last and greatest of the land lotteries. I was drawn to story because its events took place near Pierre, South Dakota, my childhood home. Book is written as a memoir of author's homesteading adventure with her sister during the first decade of 20th century. The personal details of how these two young, tiny and ill-prepared women met the requirements for acquiring deed to their homestead reminds me of how much I hate not having water to clean and wash with, and how miserable it is to have to sit and sleep close to a woodstove in order to stay warm. They lived in a tar paper shack during SD winter with their only source of water being melted snow or water hauled several miles and only source of heat a very hungry woodstove that burned coal or wood--- except they seldom had wood. Their tale of survival is delightfully entertaining as is their tales about the many other homesteaders and native American they came to know and depend upon.
These two sisters built quite a reputation for reasons other than living in tar paper shack throughout the long winter and those reasons were created by circumstances that these young ladies could never have been imagined before they embarked upon this adventure.
After they moved onto their 160 and were settled, there were new tracts of land near them being made available through land lotteries. Author describes these frantic land races whereby people came by the thousands by foot, car, truck, wagon, train, or by horse to Pierre, Ft. Pierre and Presho, overwhelming the resources of these small towns where the land offices were located. Many of those who won the land lotteries, and then moved onto their homesteads, left before they could "prove up" their claim.
This is a real story, written for the purpose of describing how homesteaders lived day to day on the prairie without water, without needed supplies, and without adequate know-how in order to fulfill requirements of Homestead Act; and it is written for the purpose of recognizing those who met the challenge and developed the American west. Author chronicles the immense accomplishments of those who stayed on their homesteads; but as she so often emphasizes and details in her story, it was the manifestation of cooperation among homesteaders that ultimately led to their success with harvesting their crops, building their farms and ranches, and building their cities.
Story takes place on government land and on Indian land that was opened up for settlement in the areas known as the Strip, Lower Brule, and the Rosebud. The events are so graphically described that reader can easily visualize the plight of surviving 3-day blizzards without a source of heat, traveling via wagon or horseback to get supplies, hauling water, living in tar paper shack, and that of surviving worm plaque, prairie fires, intense summer heat on prairie without any natural shelter, and living with rattlesnakes.
The following quote from book portends the long and difficult process of peopling western South Dakota: "This was not the West as I had dreamed of it, not the West even of banditry and violent action. It was a desolate, forgotten land, without vegetation save for the dry, crackling grass, without visible tokens of fertility. Drab and gray and empty. Stubborn, resisting land. Heroics wouldn't count for much here. It would take slow, back-breaking labor, and time, and the action of the seasons to make the prairie bloom. People had said this was no place for two girls. It began to seem that they might be right."
These two sisters built quite a reputation for reasons other than living in tar paper shack throughout the long winter and those reasons were created by circumstances that these young ladies could never have been imagined before they embarked upon this adventure.
After they moved onto their 160 and were settled, there were new tracts of land near them being made available through land lotteries. Author describes these frantic land races whereby people came by the thousands by foot, car, truck, wagon, train, or by horse to Pierre, Ft. Pierre and Presho, overwhelming the resources of these small towns where the land offices were located. Many of those who won the land lotteries, and then moved onto their homesteads, left before they could "prove up" their claim.
This is a real story, written for the purpose of describing how homesteaders lived day to day on the prairie without water, without needed supplies, and without adequate know-how in order to fulfill requirements of Homestead Act; and it is written for the purpose of recognizing those who met the challenge and developed the American west. Author chronicles the immense accomplishments of those who stayed on their homesteads; but as she so often emphasizes and details in her story, it was the manifestation of cooperation among homesteaders that ultimately led to their success with harvesting their crops, building their farms and ranches, and building their cities.
Story takes place on government land and on Indian land that was opened up for settlement in the areas known as the Strip, Lower Brule, and the Rosebud. The events are so graphically described that reader can easily visualize the plight of surviving 3-day blizzards without a source of heat, traveling via wagon or horseback to get supplies, hauling water, living in tar paper shack, and that of surviving worm plaque, prairie fires, intense summer heat on prairie without any natural shelter, and living with rattlesnakes.
The following quote from book portends the long and difficult process of peopling western South Dakota: "This was not the West as I had dreamed of it, not the West even of banditry and violent action. It was a desolate, forgotten land, without vegetation save for the dry, crackling grass, without visible tokens of fertility. Drab and gray and empty. Stubborn, resisting land. Heroics wouldn't count for much here. It would take slow, back-breaking labor, and time, and the action of the seasons to make the prairie bloom. People had said this was no place for two girls. It began to seem that they might be right."
December 31, 2020
So happy I read this inspiring true story of two young sisters who battled snow, drought, fire, and hardship to establish community on what's now South Dakota. Edith Eudora and her sister Ida Mary set out in the late 1800's to "prove a claim" on the Lower Brule territory, so named because of a wildfire that burned the thighs of young Native Americans surviving on that desolate land. The word Brule (my computer won't do the accent over the last e) is from the French word for to burn, which should have been the sister's first red flag! But being young and desperate to make their living in the world, these two young girls who had lost their mother to illness, pooled their meager fortunes and set out to tame what was then the frontier. Their father, having remarried and started a new family, waved goodbye and the girls were on their own.
These two industrious women arrived to their "improved claim" see a one room, tarpaper shack on a desolate prairie, miles from the nearest neighbor and 50 miles from the nearest town! They, being raised in a city, have no idea what they've gotten in to, but being young and having no way out, they tackle the problems that come before them one by one.
By the stories end Ida Mary and Edith Eudora have started a newspaper, settled not one but two claims, instituted a revolutionary farming method, started a post office and a general store, become political influencers, conquered their fear and prejudice toward the native people and rallied the settlers of the Brule and the Rosebud Reservation to a true community of friends.
What I'm wondering is why this book isn't required reading in the public school curriculum? Why an I just now hearing about the exploits of these two slight women? Why do we hear all about Daniel Boone and other men and their triumphs and failures, yet these two heroic, American women aren't mentioned at all?
In fact I don't recall learning about the settling of the western US beyond covered wagons crossing the plains and the tragedy of the Donner Pass! Some of the folks settling the Dakotas came in cars!
Really, read this book!! And give it to your daughters, nieces, sisters and any woman who can use a strong role model. In my heart of hearts I knew that these women wouldn't give up, that their indomitable spirit and that of the thousands of women like them were the major settling factor for our nation, but with Edith Eudora Kohl's biography I now have proof.
These two industrious women arrived to their "improved claim" see a one room, tarpaper shack on a desolate prairie, miles from the nearest neighbor and 50 miles from the nearest town! They, being raised in a city, have no idea what they've gotten in to, but being young and having no way out, they tackle the problems that come before them one by one.
By the stories end Ida Mary and Edith Eudora have started a newspaper, settled not one but two claims, instituted a revolutionary farming method, started a post office and a general store, become political influencers, conquered their fear and prejudice toward the native people and rallied the settlers of the Brule and the Rosebud Reservation to a true community of friends.
What I'm wondering is why this book isn't required reading in the public school curriculum? Why an I just now hearing about the exploits of these two slight women? Why do we hear all about Daniel Boone and other men and their triumphs and failures, yet these two heroic, American women aren't mentioned at all?
In fact I don't recall learning about the settling of the western US beyond covered wagons crossing the plains and the tragedy of the Donner Pass! Some of the folks settling the Dakotas came in cars!
Really, read this book!! And give it to your daughters, nieces, sisters and any woman who can use a strong role model. In my heart of hearts I knew that these women wouldn't give up, that their indomitable spirit and that of the thousands of women like them were the major settling factor for our nation, but with Edith Eudora Kohl's biography I now have proof.
April 2, 2023
Edith Eudora Kohl's Land of the Burnt Thigh is one of the better memoirs of Midwest homesteading I have read to date. These following aspects of Kohl's book ring true to me about early 20th century settler colonialist life in the upper Midwest: Kohl's tireless boosterism that results in her gaining the attention and support of eastern capitalists and local political leaders; her guilt-free settler colonialist attitude toward Native peoples and especially their land; her belief that water could be found to irrigate people and crops alike; her depiction of how some settlers came simply to prove up and then sell their homesteads while others had significant financial challenges in making their final payments and lost the family farm; and, her often stated belief that the pioneers would be successful because they helped each other and her disdain for getting help from the government - despite the fact that government was truly the man behind the curtain, opening the Lower Brule and Rosebud reservations up to white settlement in the age of allotment as well as establishing and maintaining the legal framework which allowed for the development of the land and communities. And required farmers to post their 'proofs' in a local newspaper, thereby creating a job for Kohl herself.
This review of Kohl's book asks the question of whether or not this is more memoir or more fiction. And I agree with the reviewer - Kohl's book seems a robust depiction of early 20th century settler colonialist life in the upper Midwest.
This review of Kohl's book asks the question of whether or not this is more memoir or more fiction. And I agree with the reviewer - Kohl's book seems a robust depiction of early 20th century settler colonialist life in the upper Midwest.
February 13, 2022
What a read!! I just finished this glorious, hugely inspirational memoir this minute and bawled my eyes out because I didn't want to be finished it but had to keep turning the pages. Two fiercely independent sisters head off in search of a new life in the wilds of South Dakota and must forge a home and a paying job out of very little indeed. This story has it all - inexperienced but highly intelligent young girls overcoming enormous obstacles and having to cope with famine, drought and fire and a lot of rattlesnakes. There is even a love story unfolding quietly in the background. In due course, they set up a post office, a store, an Indian trading post and a frontier newspaper that caught the attention of Washington as Edith laid bare the problems facing the early settlers and pointed out the government's moral responsibility to lending financial aid in order to work the land and so on. It's marvellously told. Edith is a true storyteller and I want to read more of her books. I also found it a fascinating look at the Sioux tribe in the early 1900s. And, for what's worth, I think the sisters' story would make an absolutely bloody brilliant film!
May 4, 2018
What a wonderful historical account of the land rush to South Dakota. This book is about the Ammons sisters, two young women who left their home in the east to file a claim on a homestead on the "strip" a large tract of land on the prairie. This account isn't just about the Ammon sisters but also of the families, young and older people that uprooted themselves and their families to start new lives homesteading. There were all kinds of struggles the folks faced, adverse weather, rattlesnakes, drought, food, and fuel shortages, and long distances to travel to the nearest towns for supplies. Lack of money was always an issue. Working from sunup and through the evenings to get things done to prepare for winter was a constant struggle for the homesteaders. The Homesteaders were enterprising people with great sense of irony, humor, and adventure.
This book was a fast read for me. It was hard for me to put it down.
This book was a fast read for me. It was hard for me to put it down.
December 6, 2022
What’s not to love about a true story of determination, hard work, and perseverance? Two young sisters claim a section of land in brutal South Dakota in the early 1900s. Upon arrival, they decide, since conditions are much worse than they expected, they will return to their comfortable home back east the very next day. When they tell the neighbor of their decision, the neighbor said, “Well that’s too bad. We wanted to have you over for a meal tomorrow!” Okay, they say, we can leave the day after the meal. And so it goes until they’ve stayed long enough to settle and develop the land. Inspirational. Audio superbly read by Matthew McNaughton freely available on YouTube. https://youtu.be/4YL5wbwM4BQ
October 11, 2019
There were lots of interesting stories in this book. So many really unusual things these two sisters went through that I'm not really sure its non fiction. Maybe its the stories of several people all put together in this book. I realize that this was a different time, but the ladies were so insensitive to the Indians. They took their land and yet still lived nearby and bought food at their store. Neat info about the printing press and a little newspaper.
November 26, 2019
As much as I enjoyed Louis Lamour's westens, this book exemplifies how the west was really settled. By people helping people. The Land Of The Burnt Thigh tells particularly of women homesteaders, but also of all of the people trying to live in the early west, cattlemen, homesteaders,and First Nation peoples. It is somewhat old style writing but is hugely informative and descriptive of the west's settlement. A good read!
April 24, 2023
What a great read!
I am preparing for a trip to South Dakota for the first time. This reminiscence of a woman homesteader and her sister in the early 1900’s is well-written and very readable. I had no knowledge of the challenges of life on the prairie during this time.
My only complaint is the author’s portrayal of the Sioux which is probably better than most would have done at that time but is somewhat pejorative.
I am preparing for a trip to South Dakota for the first time. This reminiscence of a woman homesteader and her sister in the early 1900’s is well-written and very readable. I had no knowledge of the challenges of life on the prairie during this time.
My only complaint is the author’s portrayal of the Sioux which is probably better than most would have done at that time but is somewhat pejorative.
November 6, 2024
This book tells the story of two brave females who took on the new frontier in South Dakota in the early 1900s.
They befriended the Indians, started a newspaper, taught school and opened a post office and a general store. Some of their trials included prairie fires, an influx of rattlesnakes and weather events like droughts and snow storms, yet they survived and arguably thrived. Their resourcefulness and grit is inspiring.
They befriended the Indians, started a newspaper, taught school and opened a post office and a general store. Some of their trials included prairie fires, an influx of rattlesnakes and weather events like droughts and snow storms, yet they survived and arguably thrived. Their resourcefulness and grit is inspiring.
June 8, 2020
Such a fascinating memoir written by an incredible woman who leaves St. Louis in the early years of the 20th century to homestead in South Dakota. Very interesting story and so surprising the number of female homesteaders and their incredible success rate. What a truly fascinating pair of sisters.
July 22, 2022
Quite an eye-opening account of the "settling" of South Dakota through the offering of 160 acres to anyone who would homestead on the prairie.
Hundreds of thousands of people participated in a series of these land offerings and the variety of characters was clearly witnessed.
Authentic voice of the times, we can note the biases today, but we're far removed from the era.
Hundreds of thousands of people participated in a series of these land offerings and the variety of characters was clearly witnessed.
Authentic voice of the times, we can note the biases today, but we're far removed from the era.
November 27, 2022
This book is available as a free, public-domain audio book from LibriVox. You can find it on YouTube and from other sources.
Edith Kohl went on her homesteading adventure with her sister Ida Mary in 1907. Decades later after honing her writing skills as a reporter for the Denver Post, she wrote this excellent memoir. They packed an incredible amount of activity into two and a half years.
Edith Kohl went on her homesteading adventure with her sister Ida Mary in 1907. Decades later after honing her writing skills as a reporter for the Denver Post, she wrote this excellent memoir. They packed an incredible amount of activity into two and a half years.
April 7, 2024
An interesting and unique historical read of a very niche part of American history. The author has a nice tone when writing that really makes it seem like a conversation. While I don’t enjoy the few racist comments scattered throughout, one has to remember that they were a product of their time.
November 8, 2024
A story of two women who forged a path in the South Dakota frontier in the early 1900s. They befriended Indians and battled snowstorms, rattlesnakes, droughts and more. They also opened a post office and general store, taught school and ran a newspaper.
Their grit and resilience was an inspiration to many.
Their grit and resilience was an inspiration to many.
September 12, 2018
I wish I could give this a 3.5. It confirmed my suspicions that I would not have wanted to choose this path in life had I been alive then. I think I would have died, or turned around and gone back from where I came.
August 3, 2019
I’ve read a number of books by women settlers of the west, but none as well written as this one. An outstanding chronicle of two sisters homesteading in South Dakota. This writer deserves a full biography.
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