Taming the Frontier,
One Chore at a Time
by Preston Lewis and Harriet Kocher Lewis
Young Adult / Nonfiction / History
Publisher: Bariso Press
Pages: 184
Publication Date: September 24, 2024
SYNOPSIS
Children tread lightly through the pages of Old West history. Pintsized Pioneers: Taming the Frontier, One Chore at a Time gives frontier children their due for all the work they did to help their families survive. Even at early ages, the youngsters helped families make ends meet and handled chores that today seem unbelievable. Written for today’s young adults, Pintsized Pioneers offers lessons on frontier history and on the value of work for contemporary youth.
In 1850 adolescents 16 and under accounted for 46 percent of the national population, making them an important labor force in settling the country. Pintsized Pioneers examines their tasks and toils starting with the chores on the trail west. Children assisted in providing fuel and water on the trail and at home when they settled down. In their new locations the young ones helped grow food, make clothing for the entire family and assist with the housekeeping in primitive dwellings.
These pintsized pioneers took on farm and ranch chores as young as six, some going on cattle drives at eight years of age. Even Old West town tykes, who enjoyed more career possibilities, helped their folks survive as well. In the end, many pintsized pioneers pitched in to help their families make ends meet. Difficult as their lives might have been, the lessons those children learned handling chores helped them and their country in the years ahead. Those pintsized lessons have contemporary applications to the youth of today.
Targeted at young adults, Pintsized Pioneers is written at a ninth-grade reading level and includes a supplementary glossary. Even so, Pintsized Pioneers is an eye-opener for adult readers as well.
CLICK TO PURCHASE:
Bariso Press | Amazon | B&N | Bookshop.org | Books-A-Million
By Sybrina Durant
This book dives into the incredible lives of frontier children—young heroes who tackled tough tasks to keep their families going. Ever wondered what life was like for kids living on the frontier back in the day? It was a wild ride filled with responsibilities that might make you rethink your own chores! Check out these epic tasks that frontier kids tackled daily:
1. **Milking Cows**: Imagine starting your day by getting up early to milk a cow! Kids were pros at this, squeezing out fresh milk before school and then again after, making sure their family had milk for breakfast (yum) and for whipping up homemade butter!
2. **Gathering Firewood**: Forget just flicking a switch; kids were real-life survivalists out there chopping and collecting firewood to keep their homes warm and toasty and their meals sizzling on the stove.
3. **Tending Gardens**: Ever dream about growing your own super garden? Frontier kids did it all—from planting seeds to weeding out pesky plants, they were basically the ultimate garden warriors, making sure their families had fresh veggies to munch on.
4. **Herding Livestock**: Picture this: kids roaming the fields, herding sheep, cows, and chickens! They weren’t just babysitting animals; they were keeping their furry and feathered friends safe and well-fed.
5. **Fetching Water**: Instead of turning on the tap, they had to haul water from wells or streams. Talk about a workout! Whether it was for cooking, cleaning, or drinking, this was a daily mission.
6. **Churning Butter**: Who’s ready for some serious arm workout? Churning butter was no joke, but the reward was worth it—a smooth, rich spread for their family’s bread.
7. **Collecting Eggs**: No breakfast is complete without eggs! Kids would head to the chicken coop to gather eggs—scrambles and omelets were on the menu, and some even got to sell them for extra cash!
8. **Helping with Harvest**: When harvest season rolled around, it was all hands on deck! Kids joined in to pick corn, wheat, and potatoes, making sure there was enough food stored for winter.
9. **Household Cleaning**: Keeping things tidy was essential! Kids dusted, swept, and scrubbed to make sure their home was as fresh as possible. Who needs a cleaning service when you’ve got a frontier kid around?
10. **Caring for Younger Siblings**: Big brothers and sisters were often in charge of looking after the littles, giving parents a break to tackle more demanding tasks. It was like being a mini parent!
All of these chores were not just about keeping things running smoothly; they were teaching valuable skills and work ethics that would stick with frontier kids for life. These kids were the original multitaskers!
From farming to ranching, and even hustling in town, they were juggling chores like pros. Many of them took on outside jobs too—delivering messages, stocking shelves in stores, or even teaching younger kids. When times got tough, these kids stepped up to help their families make ends meet, proving that every little bit counts.
But it wasn’t all work and no play! The challenges they faced taught them some seriously valuable life skills—like confidence, teamwork, and self-reliance. Those traits weren’t just handy in the Old West; they set them up for success in the future.
One child who stood out to me was Mamie Rose. At just eight years old, she became the ultimate chef for her family of fifteen after her mom lost her sight in an accident. Imagine that – cooking for a whole crew when you’re barely out of elementary school! For the next decade, she totally owned the kitchen, whipping up meals and keeping her family fed. Her early cooking hustle didn’t just end there, though; it launched her into a successful career as a caterer. Mamie’s story isn’t just about cooking – it’s a wild reminder of how much young people can handle and how those experiences can totally shape their epic futures.
With tons of cool stories like this, diary entries, and snapshots from the past, this book paints a vivid picture of what it was really like to grow up on the frontier. It will definitely make you have a new respect for your own ancestors. I give it 5 stars.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Preston Lewis and Harriet Kocher Lewis co-authored three books in the “Magic Machine Series” published by Bariso Press: Devotionals from a Soulless Machine, Jokes from a Humorless Machine, and Recipes from a Tasteless Machine. They reside in San Angelo, Texas.
Preston Lewis has published more than 50 fiction and nonfiction works. The author and historian’s books include traditional Westerns, historical novels, comic Westerns, young adult books, and historical accounts. In 2021 he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for his literary accomplishments.
His writing honors include two Spur Awards from Western Writers of America and three Elmer Kelton Awards from the West Texas Historical Association. He has received ten Will Rogers Medallion Awards, and in 2024, he earned an inaugural Literary Global Independent Author Award in the Western Nonfiction category for Cat Tales of the Old West.
He is a past president of Western Writers of America and the West Texas Historical Association, which named him a fellow in 2016.
WEBSITE◆LINKEDIN◆INSTAGRAM ◆X/TWITTER
AMAZON◆FACEBOOK◆GOODREADS
Harriet Kocher Lewis is the award-winning editor and publisher of Bariso Press. Titles she has edited have been honored with Will Rogers Medallion Awards, Spur Finalist designations, and Independent Author Awards.
Lewis concluded her 26-year physical therapy career as the inaugural clinical coordinator for the physical therapy program at Angelo State University, where she taught technical writing and wrote or edited numerous scientific papers as well as a chapter in a clinical education textbook.
WEBSITE◆FACEBOOK
CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE
FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH BLOG PARTICIPATING IN THIS TOUR.
blog tour services provided by
Source link