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Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains
"Calof's [story] has the 'electricity' one occasionally finds in primary sources. It is powerful, shocking, and primitive, with the kind of appeal primary sources often attain without effort. . . . it is a strong addition to the literature of women's experience on the frontier." ―Lillian Schlissel
In 1894, eighteen-year-old Rachel Bella Kahn travelled from Russia to the United States for an arranged marriage to Abraham Calof, an immigrant homesteader in North Dakota. Rachel Calof's Story combines her memoir of a hard pioneering life on the prairie with scholarly essays that provide historical and cultural background and show her narrative to be both unique and a representative western tale. Her narrative is riveting and candid, laced with humor and irony.
The memoir, written by Rachel Bella Calof in 1936, recounts aspects of her childhood and teenage years in a Jewish community, (shtetl) in Russia, but focuses largely on her life between 1894 and 1904, when she and her husband carved out a life as homesteaders. She recalls her horror at the hardships of pioneer life―especially the crowding of many family members into the 12 x 14' dirt-floored shanties that were their first dwellings. "Of all the privations I knew as a homesteader," says Calof, "the lack of privacy was the hardest to bear." Money, food, and fuel were scarce, and during bitter winters, three Calof households―Abraham and Rachel with their growing children, along with his parents and a brother's family―would pool resources and live together (with livestock) in one shanty.
Under harsh and primitive conditions, Rachel Bella Calof bore and raised nine children. The family withstood many dangers, including hailstorms that hammered wheat to the ground and flooded their home; droughts that reduced crops to dust; blinding snowstorms of plains winters. Through it all, however, Calof drew on a humor and resolve that is everywhere apparent in her narrative. Always striving to improve her living conditions, she made lamps from dried mud, scraps of rag, and butter; plastered the cracked wood walls of her home with clay; supplemented meagre supplies with prairie forage―wild mushrooms and garlic for a special supper, dry grass for a hot fire to bake bread. Never sentimental, Caolf's memoir is a vital historical and personal record.
J. Sanford Rikoon elaborates on the history of Jewish settlement in the rural heartland and the great tide of immigration from the Russian Pale of Settlement and Eastern Europe from 1880–1910. Elizabeth Jameson examines how Calof "writes from the interior spaces of private life, and from that vantage point, reconfigures more familiar versions of the American West." Jameson also discusses how the Calofs adapted Jewish practices to the new contingencies of North Dakota, maintaining customs that represented the core of their Jewish identity, reconstructing their "Jewishness" in new circumstances.
In 1894, eighteen-year-old Rachel Bella Kahn travelled from Russia to the United States for an arranged marriage to Abraham Calof, an immigrant homesteader in North Dakota. Rachel Calof's Story combines her memoir of a hard pioneering life on the prairie with scholarly essays that provide historical and cultural background and show her narrative to be both unique and a representative western tale. Her narrative is riveting and candid, laced with humor and irony.
The memoir, written by Rachel Bella Calof in 1936, recounts aspects of her childhood and teenage years in a Jewish community, (shtetl) in Russia, but focuses largely on her life between 1894 and 1904, when she and her husband carved out a life as homesteaders. She recalls her horror at the hardships of pioneer life―especially the crowding of many family members into the 12 x 14' dirt-floored shanties that were their first dwellings. "Of all the privations I knew as a homesteader," says Calof, "the lack of privacy was the hardest to bear." Money, food, and fuel were scarce, and during bitter winters, three Calof households―Abraham and Rachel with their growing children, along with his parents and a brother's family―would pool resources and live together (with livestock) in one shanty.
Under harsh and primitive conditions, Rachel Bella Calof bore and raised nine children. The family withstood many dangers, including hailstorms that hammered wheat to the ground and flooded their home; droughts that reduced crops to dust; blinding snowstorms of plains winters. Through it all, however, Calof drew on a humor and resolve that is everywhere apparent in her narrative. Always striving to improve her living conditions, she made lamps from dried mud, scraps of rag, and butter; plastered the cracked wood walls of her home with clay; supplemented meagre supplies with prairie forage―wild mushrooms and garlic for a special supper, dry grass for a hot fire to bake bread. Never sentimental, Caolf's memoir is a vital historical and personal record.
J. Sanford Rikoon elaborates on the history of Jewish settlement in the rural heartland and the great tide of immigration from the Russian Pale of Settlement and Eastern Europe from 1880–1910. Elizabeth Jameson examines how Calof "writes from the interior spaces of private life, and from that vantage point, reconfigures more familiar versions of the American West." Jameson also discusses how the Calofs adapted Jewish practices to the new contingencies of North Dakota, maintaining customs that represented the core of their Jewish identity, reconstructing their "Jewishness" in new circumstances.
176 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1995
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August 25, 2014
This was a fascinating first-person narrative of a Jewish homesteader who traveled from Russia to North Dakota for an arranged marriage in 1894. This is Rachel Bella Calof’s story in her own words, and I read it in a day. Little House on the Prairie this is not; there is nothing romanticized here. Calof writes in a clear, matter-of-fact voice of hardships I can’t imagine living through year after year: arriving to a roofless shack crowded with people she didn’t yet know, being forced to share a bed (wooden planks with chickens underneath, basically) with her future mother-in-law, scraping together bits of dough to cook over a fire stoked with cow dung and grinding barley to substitute for coffee, and ultimately bearing nine children, most of them right there in the shack. She was forced to figure just about everything out for herself, with virtually no support from her new family. The severe isolation of the prairie coupled with the absolute lack of any privacy is unrelenting. And then, of course, there are blizzards and hailstorms, difficult births, and conflicts with her mother-in-law.
But it’s never a depressing book; I think it’s a testament to Calof’s strength and a story of what humans can endure. (I almost laughed when their entire crop was wiped out by a hailstorm and Calof seemed almost cheerful about it. Like, well, we’re all safe! And we were so close this year! Maybe next year we’ll be successful!) It certainly puts things in perspective for me when I feel like complaining about, say, the fact that I haven’t found time to paint my bathroom or whatever. Or anything else.
The epilogue (written by Calof’s youngest son) and two afterwords expanding on the history and context of Calof’s narrative were interesting as well. (My college roommate sent it to me with this note: “I never knew there was a prominent Jewish settlement near Devil’s Lake!” I didn’t either.)
But it’s never a depressing book; I think it’s a testament to Calof’s strength and a story of what humans can endure. (I almost laughed when their entire crop was wiped out by a hailstorm and Calof seemed almost cheerful about it. Like, well, we’re all safe! And we were so close this year! Maybe next year we’ll be successful!) It certainly puts things in perspective for me when I feel like complaining about, say, the fact that I haven’t found time to paint my bathroom or whatever. Or anything else.
The epilogue (written by Calof’s youngest son) and two afterwords expanding on the history and context of Calof’s narrative were interesting as well. (My college roommate sent it to me with this note: “I never knew there was a prominent Jewish settlement near Devil’s Lake!” I didn’t either.)
March 1, 2012
If you ever find yourself feeling sorry for yourself; read this book! If your kids are complaining about sharing a room, not having the hot clothes/shoes/electronics/vacations etc; make them read this book. If you enjoy reading about American/Jewish/Women's/settler's/immigrant's history, read this book! An amazing memoir of a woman who endures a horrible childhood in Russia only to move to the US, and then, becomes a homesteader on North Dakota. Translated by her son, Rachel gives a riveting account of her first years in the frigid, remote setting. She writes sparingly, but with great impact. There is additional info and insight by her son and two professors to enhance her memoir.
The book is a short read that you will never forget!
The book is a short read that you will never forget!
May 20, 2023
Rachel Bella Calof wrote 67 pages of her story in Yiddish and tucked it away. Her children found it, but none of them could read it. Eventually, a translator was found, and her story made its way to academic centers in the northern plains of the US, as a study of pioneer experiences of immigration, land acquisition, social practices and survival in those cold, long years in the sparsely settled areas of northeast North Dakota.
Born of Jewish parents in what was then Russia (and what is now known as Ukraine), Rachel Bella Kahn landed in a hard life. Poor farmers with little to eat, high mortality rates, and little return for the crops they could raise made for a hard scrabble life. It is not beyond reason that when 18 year-old Rachel heard of a good Jewish man wanting a bride to come to North Dakota to help him settle a claim she would seriously consider and accept it. Abraham Calof made sure she added her claim to his before they were wed - because married women couldn't make a claim for land. Only single ones. He picked her up, brought her to the land office and then arranged for the wedding. From there the story gets darker - harder than anything she'd faced in her native land. Winter was coming and it would be many years before she would have her own home. The entire, large extended family from newborns to elderly grandparents with all the ones between lived in a one room structure for years. Rachel, a good cook was put to work. Abraham, quickly left the state to find work in higher-paying states, being gone whole seasons at a time.
A sobering read, that will remind today's readers that no matter our challenges in 2023, it was a rougher world in 1894. Rachel was a woman of valor, resourcefulness and years of bone-breaking work.
Born of Jewish parents in what was then Russia (and what is now known as Ukraine), Rachel Bella Kahn landed in a hard life. Poor farmers with little to eat, high mortality rates, and little return for the crops they could raise made for a hard scrabble life. It is not beyond reason that when 18 year-old Rachel heard of a good Jewish man wanting a bride to come to North Dakota to help him settle a claim she would seriously consider and accept it. Abraham Calof made sure she added her claim to his before they were wed - because married women couldn't make a claim for land. Only single ones. He picked her up, brought her to the land office and then arranged for the wedding. From there the story gets darker - harder than anything she'd faced in her native land. Winter was coming and it would be many years before she would have her own home. The entire, large extended family from newborns to elderly grandparents with all the ones between lived in a one room structure for years. Rachel, a good cook was put to work. Abraham, quickly left the state to find work in higher-paying states, being gone whole seasons at a time.
A sobering read, that will remind today's readers that no matter our challenges in 2023, it was a rougher world in 1894. Rachel was a woman of valor, resourcefulness and years of bone-breaking work.
December 30, 2021
This was a riveting read! My thoughts:
Style: Calof's writing (and/or that of her translator) is compulsively readable - vivid yet concise descriptions that make it easy to imagine what she went through and her way of life. There are images that have been lingering in my head days after I put this down. With the amount of detail on rituals, materials, relationships, and social status, this almost reads like an auto-ethnography - I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in anthropology, culture, history, and the immigrant experience.
Environment as character: I've been specifically on the hunt for books that strongly evoke a particular environment and this hit the spot. Ever since driving cross-country (in the US) this summer I've been fascinated by the landscape of the western prairie and the contrast between its seeming tranquility and its unforgiving harshness. This is definitely showcased here and the prairie almost becomes its own character.
Gothic elements: Despite being an autobiography, Calof's narrative is peppered with hints of the gothic genre (one of my favorites), whether intended or not. For instance, there are her descriptions of the haunting, crazy-making nature of the never-ending prairie. She also discusses the paradoxical combination of isolation and lack of privacy that characterized pioneer life and their psychological effects. She describes one episode in which she became convinced there were devils lurking in the prairie, lying in wait to harm her newborn baby. Anyone interested in psychology and rich descriptions of inner life would probably find this interesting.
Overall, a fascinating read that's also fast and easy. Some may find it a bit depressing to read about the extreme hardships that Calof and her family endured, but I found it inspiring and a great exercise in gratitude - despite the challenges of Covid times, at least I have floors, running water, heat, a comfortable bed, and so on and so forth.
Style: Calof's writing (and/or that of her translator) is compulsively readable - vivid yet concise descriptions that make it easy to imagine what she went through and her way of life. There are images that have been lingering in my head days after I put this down. With the amount of detail on rituals, materials, relationships, and social status, this almost reads like an auto-ethnography - I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in anthropology, culture, history, and the immigrant experience.
Environment as character: I've been specifically on the hunt for books that strongly evoke a particular environment and this hit the spot. Ever since driving cross-country (in the US) this summer I've been fascinated by the landscape of the western prairie and the contrast between its seeming tranquility and its unforgiving harshness. This is definitely showcased here and the prairie almost becomes its own character.
Gothic elements: Despite being an autobiography, Calof's narrative is peppered with hints of the gothic genre (one of my favorites), whether intended or not. For instance, there are her descriptions of the haunting, crazy-making nature of the never-ending prairie. She also discusses the paradoxical combination of isolation and lack of privacy that characterized pioneer life and their psychological effects. She describes one episode in which she became convinced there were devils lurking in the prairie, lying in wait to harm her newborn baby. Anyone interested in psychology and rich descriptions of inner life would probably find this interesting.
Overall, a fascinating read that's also fast and easy. Some may find it a bit depressing to read about the extreme hardships that Calof and her family endured, but I found it inspiring and a great exercise in gratitude - despite the challenges of Covid times, at least I have floors, running water, heat, a comfortable bed, and so on and so forth.
January 19, 2019
4 stars.
I read Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains for my Women in American History Since 1877 class, so I'm not going to review. I will just say that this is an excellent read (especially if you're also Jewish and are interested in reading about other Jews and our past!), and I'm always happy to read books about Jewish women in history for class, and for fun, if I'm being honest.
“Such was the nature of our stark and simple life. Little things made the difference between tragedy and happiness in a matter of minutes. Our lives were uncomplicated. Our purpose was survival, and through survival the hope that somehow the future would treat us more kindly than had our past.”
I read Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains for my Women in American History Since 1877 class, so I'm not going to review. I will just say that this is an excellent read (especially if you're also Jewish and are interested in reading about other Jews and our past!), and I'm always happy to read books about Jewish women in history for class, and for fun, if I'm being honest.
September 5, 2018
I loved this memoir by an early (1894) Jewish immigrant homesteader in North Dakota, both because of the personal detail of a fascinating life and also because of her occasional wry humor and sarcasm. I'm always amazed by early pioneer women who try to survive and thrive under horrendous conditions, and Rachel Calof reveals more of herself than most. I could only wish for more, including more photos. 4.5 stars.
P.S. The essays after Rachel's story varied in interest to me...that depends on your historical interests.
P.S. The essays after Rachel's story varied in interest to me...that depends on your historical interests.
July 9, 2011
A pretty amazing story and worth reading for anyone who is interested in the history of the Great Plains. The history of the Great Plains is often glossed over... people focus on indian fights, the gold rush, the Oregon Trail and that's about it. This is a story of an immigrant settler in North Dakota and the hardships she has to endure. There are some powerful images of her trudging through the snow for miles, while pregnant, to get to her nearest neighbor.
The book is a bit slow in places, but that has mostly to do with the fact that the life of your average homesteader (especially in the winters of North Dakota) was very dull.
The book is a bit slow in places, but that has mostly to do with the fact that the life of your average homesteader (especially in the winters of North Dakota) was very dull.
February 17, 2014
A quick and very interesting read. If ever you feel inclined to whine about not having "enough," just pick up this book. How must it be to share a one room shack with a husband, your in laws, two dozen chickens and a calf?! And this without knowing whether your food and fuel supplies will last the winter...not to mention not a cup of coffee to be had! The best thing about the book is that Rachel never loses her hopes for the future; she just keeps moving forward doing the best she can. Well worth the couple of hours it takes to read.
December 3, 2009
Short but vivid description of the incredibly harsh life of North Dakota homesteaders. the fact that the writer is Jewish is less important(except in one bit about finding a kosher butcher) as is the unimaginable poverty and discomfort of their lives. The concept of owning land was incredibly attractive to these perpetually disenfranchised immigrants, but it turns out that there are easier and safer ways to make a living in America even then.
February 12, 2019
This is a memoir written by the author about her life from her youth in Russia in the late 1800s to her life in North Dakota after coming to the U.S. at age 18 to marry a man she didn't know. He and his extended family were just beginning to homestead in North Dakota. The hardships and the way they lived is mind boggling. Her perseverance is amazing. Highly recommend.
June 11, 2017
This was amazing - and not like anything else I've read about homesteading on the prairies. A really incredible account - I so admire her!!
January 20, 2025
This riveting memoir, entirely a primary source, is the telling of a Russian immigrant who, with her husband in an arranged marriage, carves out a life at the turn of the 19th century as Jewish homesteaders in North Dakota. Around 1980, nearly thirty years after Rachel Calof died, her fourth daughter resurrected her mother’s narrative from a trunk. Her brother then translated the text from Yiddish. Eventually the family agreed to the publication of this full and unaltered translation. “Never sentimental, her memoir is a vital record of struggle and triumphs on the frontier.” Essays authored by two historians provide additional historical context to this remarkable story. Thank you to my sweet and smart friend Joan Krizack for sharing this book with me many years ago. It took a long time, but I’m grateful it finally reached the top of the pile.
February 14, 2021
I found Rachel's account amazing. I can't even imagine how difficult it must have been to be a homesteader in N. Dakota in the 1880's. They had very inadequate housing, heat, fuel, food and clothing. If you survived all that you still had a terrible load of daily work and very iffy chances of success. On top of that these people were isolated from almost any community other than the people they lived with. Rachel is feisty, smart and admirable. I really liked her and appreciated her manner of speaking which was plain spoken and real.
I appreciate that her story was made available to readers.
I appreciate that her story was made available to readers.
June 30, 2022
I'm not a person who goes out of my way to read homesteader narratives, as they usually are of little interest to me. Rachel Calof's Story intrigued me, however, and I'm very glad I read it. I've never really seen homesteader memoirs written from a non-Christian point of view, and had assumed that all homesteaders were Christian due to this, which anyone who will know homesteader history is free to shame me for at their discretion, so this Jewish view of homesteading after such a background as Rachel Calof had was eye opening and informative in a way I had not expected. If you like homesteader memoirs, this is a great read. If you like the midwest (and as someone from the midwest: why?), this is a great read. I'm very glad I picked this book up at my local library.
February 24, 2024
Fantastic book! Rachel Calof is an extraordinary writer who creates a vivid and engaging narrative of her life. The epilogue and historical discussions at the end of the book also answered the remaining questions perfectly.
May 8, 2016
Rachel Calof's Story
Jewish Homesteader On The Northern Plains
Calof/Rikoon
There are four main parts to this book. The first, and most important, is My Story by Rachel Bella Calof. This is a first person narrative of Rachel's early life in Russia, her travel to the US as a mail-order bride, and her life as a Jewish homesteader in northern North Dakota. In the early years in ND, her life was bleak, filled with hard work, uncertainty, and questionable survival. A fruitcake mother-in-law was a source of despair, uncertainty, and occasional assistance. But the family did survive, and later become financially successful.
During the reading of Rachel's story, another homesteader story played in background memory, namely, Land of the Burnt Thigh, by Edith Eudora Kohl. Both stories paint a consistent picture of the trials, hardships, and desperation of early settlers, just one stroke of bad luck away from starvation and death.
The second part of this book is an epilogue by Jacob Calof, one of Rachel's sons. Jacob brings us up-to-date on the family in their later years.
The third part of this book is Jewish Farm Settlements in America's Heartland by J. Sanford Rikoon. Mr. Rikoon describes, in general terms, Jewish migration from Russia and Eastern Europe to the US mid-west. He also describes the subsequent moves from an initial homestead to a more secure, sustainable life in or near towns and cities.
The fourth part is Rachel Bella Calof's Life as Collective History by Elizabeth Jameson.
This was a quick, very enjoyable read. After reading this and 'Thigh', it is striking to realize some of the changes that have occurred, or not, re opportunity, security, grit, in the last 100 years.
Jewish Homesteader On The Northern Plains
Calof/Rikoon
There are four main parts to this book. The first, and most important, is My Story by Rachel Bella Calof. This is a first person narrative of Rachel's early life in Russia, her travel to the US as a mail-order bride, and her life as a Jewish homesteader in northern North Dakota. In the early years in ND, her life was bleak, filled with hard work, uncertainty, and questionable survival. A fruitcake mother-in-law was a source of despair, uncertainty, and occasional assistance. But the family did survive, and later become financially successful.
During the reading of Rachel's story, another homesteader story played in background memory, namely, Land of the Burnt Thigh, by Edith Eudora Kohl. Both stories paint a consistent picture of the trials, hardships, and desperation of early settlers, just one stroke of bad luck away from starvation and death.
The second part of this book is an epilogue by Jacob Calof, one of Rachel's sons. Jacob brings us up-to-date on the family in their later years.
The third part of this book is Jewish Farm Settlements in America's Heartland by J. Sanford Rikoon. Mr. Rikoon describes, in general terms, Jewish migration from Russia and Eastern Europe to the US mid-west. He also describes the subsequent moves from an initial homestead to a more secure, sustainable life in or near towns and cities.
The fourth part is Rachel Bella Calof's Life as Collective History by Elizabeth Jameson.
This was a quick, very enjoyable read. After reading this and 'Thigh', it is striking to realize some of the changes that have occurred, or not, re opportunity, security, grit, in the last 100 years.
March 22, 2021
I read this book with sympathy, but I can't help but wonder at the sheer stupidity and lack of preparation showed by the settlers in Calof's book in their chosen way of life out on the North Dakota prairies. It didn't seem to occur to any of them to get a job in town and accumulate some capital before trying to homestead. The financial sufferings the author described would have been less far severe, and their living conditions less squalid and inhuman. Despite this, Calof's memoir is a genuinely interesting read.
She was working as a maid in Russia, and was sent off to America by relatives who didn't want to be burdened with her, and locked into an arranged marriage. Without knowing the man who was to become her husband, she agreed to homestead with him out on a claim in northeast North Dakota, which is one of the coldest places in winter that can be imagined.
Giving birth in a dirt-floored single-roomed shack, in freezing temperatures in the midst of blizzards, surrounded by nutty and feckless in-laws, with all the livestock, everyone and everything packed into this one room for an entire winter, was horrible to endure. Calof's in-laws were, on the whole, selfish, ineffectual, superstitious, and a pain in the neck. I suspect Calof may have written this memoir to get back at all the people who had mistreated her in life, and from her description they certainly deserved it.
Available at Open Library:
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL37458...
She was working as a maid in Russia, and was sent off to America by relatives who didn't want to be burdened with her, and locked into an arranged marriage. Without knowing the man who was to become her husband, she agreed to homestead with him out on a claim in northeast North Dakota, which is one of the coldest places in winter that can be imagined.
Giving birth in a dirt-floored single-roomed shack, in freezing temperatures in the midst of blizzards, surrounded by nutty and feckless in-laws, with all the livestock, everyone and everything packed into this one room for an entire winter, was horrible to endure. Calof's in-laws were, on the whole, selfish, ineffectual, superstitious, and a pain in the neck. I suspect Calof may have written this memoir to get back at all the people who had mistreated her in life, and from her description they certainly deserved it.
Available at Open Library:
https://openlibrary.org/works/OL37458...
September 15, 2013
First-person account of the very hard life of an immigrant woman, from a childhood straight out of a dark fairytale through a harrowing journey across land and sea to meet her fiance for the first time and begin a new life on the North Dakota frontier. Calof's account of the filth and deprivation of pioneer life was written late in her life when she had time to reflect on her journey, and is the "adult version" of the pioneer family and settlement life mythologized in Little House on the Prairie. She is atypical in that she and her in-laws are Jewish, but the subordinate status she struggles against in a household dominated by men, run by a superstitious and unsympathetic matriarch, are reflected in many authoritarian households. Calof has flaws of her own, and a sniping bitterness wends its way through the story in gratuitous judgments of her extended Russian family and her in-laws, but from the very beginning she demonstrates an admirable ability to survive appalling experiences while looking out for her own - and in adulthood she manages to set a few personal boundaries and improve her family's fortunes along the way.
The essays by her son and social scientists that follow her memoir are illuminating in places, and give us glimpses into "what happened next", but are not nearly as compelling as Rachel's own words.
The essays by her son and social scientists that follow her memoir are illuminating in places, and give us glimpses into "what happened next", but are not nearly as compelling as Rachel's own words.
May 25, 2009
This is a far cry from Little House on the Prairie. Rachel Calof was born in Russia and had a difficult childhood there. When the opportunity came to accept a marriage proposal in America, she grabbed the chance for a new and different life. And what a life it was! She traveled to North Dakota with the man she was to marry to join his family, who were living in miserable conditions. This is how she describes her arrival: "As we climbed down from the wagon, I looked again at this assembled group and my heart sank still lower. The two brothers were so dirty and unkempt . . . and they wore rags wrapped around their feet in place of shoes. I learned that the women had no shoes at all but were wearing the men's shoes this day in my honor." In addition, her mother-in-law was difficult at best. Through the years the conditions improved, and life became tolerable, but never easy. As I read this book, I wondered if i would have survived under the conditions in which she lived - filth, inadequate food, no privacy, no let-up from the endless work, harsh weather, difficult relatives among other hardships. I was reminded of Prairie Songs by Pam Conrad, which has some similarities to this memoir though it doesn't really paint the harsh reality of prairie life.
March 10, 2009
I read this gripping book some years ago and it's one of my favorite books of all time. It's a true story, in her own words, of a poor Russian Jewish woman who came to the US for an arranged marriage to a Jewish man who was equally poor, and how they lived as homesteaders in North Dakota, in the most barren circumstances, with many children and often Rachel's husband's parents sharing their tiny home. I'm amazed that Rachel had the wherewithal to write this journal, considering how consumed she was with the most basic everyday chores, like finding food for her family.
I would love for some sensitive director to make this into a movie.
Here's a quote from the book:
"This is how five human beings and twenty-five animals faced the beginning of the savage winter of the plains in a twelve-by-fourteen-foot shack. This is how we lived and suffered. The chickens were generous with their perfumes and we withstood this, but the stench of the calf tethered in the corner was well-nigh intolerable. Of all the privations I knew as a homesteader, the lack of privacy was the hardest to bear."
I would love for some sensitive director to make this into a movie.
Here's a quote from the book:
"This is how five human beings and twenty-five animals faced the beginning of the savage winter of the plains in a twelve-by-fourteen-foot shack. This is how we lived and suffered. The chickens were generous with their perfumes and we withstood this, but the stench of the calf tethered in the corner was well-nigh intolerable. Of all the privations I knew as a homesteader, the lack of privacy was the hardest to bear."
August 31, 2013
...gave it 4 stars for the two pieces tagged onto the actual "story"...while I found her depiction of life on the plains gritty and completely different in nature to what I have read prior (female and Jewish) I didn't think she was a very good story teller (or it got lost in translation from Yiddish to English)...she complained a lot I felt and didn't really show much initiative in changing her situation though there were times she took a stand and made her views known, I thought the mother-in-law dominated her without much push back...easy for me to say sitting here male in the 21st century pecking away on a lap-top drinking a diet Coke...but as an adjunct to the course I thought it was good...what I really liked were the two post-scripts (NOT Jacob Calofs paean to his Momma!!!) giving us a fuller picture of how the Jewish community functioned and was funded in their attempts at farming the plains...the final entry softened my view of Calof and her story somewhat, giving me added perspective about her and women in general during the times of settlement...thanks for bringing this to my attention Dr. Kelley...
December 11, 2015
I deeply appreciate the fact that this journal is available for the general public to read and for its contribution to the historical record. It is imperative that we have first hand records available for research so that we know the truth of our collective heritage. I found this private journal depressing as was the main character. This is a private journal not a piece of fiction and my stars are given for the fact that I did not enjoy the book...I do appreciate that it is part of the historical literature.
This is a very quick read and a depressing one as well. I had to put the book down several times. I've read much about the immigrant experience and I understand the harshness, especially for the extremely poor.The Dakota's were harsh. They still are.
I honor the book for what it is but came away with lots of questions about life choices and then reminded myself that this was a journal and I am not here to judge another person's life. What troubled me from my 21st Century perspective was that of reproduction. I could not comprehend why Rachel had one baby after another considering the poverty and her health.
This is a very quick read and a depressing one as well. I had to put the book down several times. I've read much about the immigrant experience and I understand the harshness, especially for the extremely poor.The Dakota's were harsh. They still are.
I honor the book for what it is but came away with lots of questions about life choices and then reminded myself that this was a journal and I am not here to judge another person's life. What troubled me from my 21st Century perspective was that of reproduction. I could not comprehend why Rachel had one baby after another considering the poverty and her health.
August 6, 2021
4 1/2 stars. This nonfiction, first-person account is a very valuable look at the difficulties of homesteading on the Northern Plains around the turn of the last century, from a woman's point of view. The hardships she endured were unbelievable. Extreme poverty, relentless physical labor, the threat of starvation, numerous brushes with death, violent crop-destroying storms, and bitter cold. Living through winter in a shack with people, chickens and a cow. Nine childbirths with no real medical care, including birth to a boy that was almost 13 pounds, plus a miscarriage that almost killed her. What a tough life she had, yet she met it full on and did her best to improve her circumstances. It sure made me feel like a spoiled slug! Even though the book was short, I think it could have used some chapter breaks. I appreciated the information provided in the sections written by Rakoon and Jameson, but the writing was a little dry, like reading a text book for class. I think those sections could have been shortened and rewritten to be more engaging.
May 14, 2019
I rated this a 4.5 This is a first-person narrative of a Jewish homesteader who traveled from Russia to North Dakota for an arranged marriage in 1894. The fact that she is Jewish has little to do with the narrative. She and other settlers in North Dakota went through incredible hardships. When she became pregnant she had to rely on her MIL and her superstitions and folk remedies. In the winter she had to share her home with her inlaws and animals to conserve on fuel. A comment that really stood out for me was: "This is how five human beings and twenty-five animals faced the beginning of the savage winter of the plains in a twelve-by-fourteen-foot shack. This is how we lived and suffered. The chickens were generous with their perfumes and we withstood this, but the stench of the calf tethered in the corner was well-nigh intolerable. Of all the privations I knew as a homesteader, the lack of privacy was the hardest to bear."
April 26, 2011
Rachel Bella Calof immigrated to North Dakota from Russia to marry a man she hadn't met. Through each year of near starvation in winter, and pregnancy and birth with no midwife or doctor, what Rachel wanted most was privacy. The image of hardship that will stick with me: five months of winter in a one room shack with her husband, unpleasant in-laws and brother-in-law, many little kids, with the chickens penned under the bed and the calf tied in the corner. Rachel was lucky: her husband was a good, hardworking man who loved her. (Could a woman say to her husband, "really honey. not this *year*. I need a break"? As she put it, "nature took it's course." She had babies for 20 years.)
Also lucky: Calof produced a gigantic Jewish family in North Dakota around the turn of the century. Thank God none of these people were in Russia.
Also lucky: Calof produced a gigantic Jewish family in North Dakota around the turn of the century. Thank God none of these people were in Russia.
July 28, 2018
The wretched life of an immigrant Pioneer woman. An escape from her dismal childhood in Russia to America as a "picture bride", to North Dakota where she & her family lived in primitive squalor while surviving as best they could. While I am amazed by what many immigrant families lived through, my own grandmother's family included, I am also horrified by what these people (Rachel Calof) endured.
This is most certainly NOT Little House on the Prairie.
The first 99 pages of this book were written by Rachel Calof. There is an epilogue written by one of her 9 children, Jacob Calof ... after which are two segments, one on Settlements in America's Heartland & the other, Rachel Bella Calof's Life as a Collective History.
Now and then, one needs a reminder of how extraordinary ordinary people actually built this Nation.
This is most certainly NOT Little House on the Prairie.
The first 99 pages of this book were written by Rachel Calof. There is an epilogue written by one of her 9 children, Jacob Calof ... after which are two segments, one on Settlements in America's Heartland & the other, Rachel Bella Calof's Life as a Collective History.
Now and then, one needs a reminder of how extraordinary ordinary people actually built this Nation.
March 31, 2010
This is the true story of a woman who tries to escape the hardships she endured as a young woman in Russia, in becoming a mail order bride to a jewish man in America. Born in 1876, she arrives in North Dakota in 1894. I love reading about pioneer women, but i've never read an account of a jewish homesteader. Fascinating story. A lot of hardships, made harder by her devout faith. With her husband away helping his brother on another farm, she is left alone with her children and all the livestock in their one room dirt house. She keeps her children warm and fed, but refuses to kill the cow, as it isn't kosher. An amazing story.
September 29, 2011
Found this treasure on Samuel's bookshelf. This book helped to give me a more eternal view of hardships. This lady didn't have an easy day in her life. She tells her story without trying to pull on your emotions but just stating the facts of her every day life. She did such a good job of showing the reader how she survived such hardship that I walked away with a greater understanding of how the unsaved cope with heart ache. This book is a must read if for no other reason than to show us that we really don't have a hard life at all. I'm going to feel pretty stupid ever complaining about my circumstances again.
February 24, 2014
The book was surprisingly short. The actual diary was only 90 pages in the version I read - with large font and wide margins. There is a preface and two scholarly articles at the end. I found an article I liked on-line better than the ones that were in book. The one I found on-line, did a better job of putting the book into historical context than the two with the book.
If one has read a great deal about the homestead experience, especially those of the women who homesteaded, the book does not offer much new. The does add additional color to the story.
If one has not read a great deal about the homestead experience, then I would recommend the book as a great introduction to the topic.
If one has read a great deal about the homestead experience, especially those of the women who homesteaded, the book does not offer much new. The does add additional color to the story.
If one has not read a great deal about the homestead experience, then I would recommend the book as a great introduction to the topic.
December 26, 2017
I will try to remember this book whenever I think my life is horrible. Her life was truly awful, from her impoverished childhood in Russia to her life as a homesteader on the Northern Plains. Without many options, she made a life for herself and managed to overcome unbelievable challenges. I cannot imagine making myself go through what she did. Her descriptions are vivid to me. I love stories about immigrants and settlers and the West so this was fascinating to me and much different from any of other books I have read around this topic. The fact that they were Jewish and managed to keep many of the Jewish observations of rituals frankly stunned me.
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