Pintsized Pioneers by Preston Lewis and Harriet Kocher Lewis on LSLL book blog tour!
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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.
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.
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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.
A book that delves deeply into the kind of chores young people were responsible for in the 19th century? Sign me up! As a former social studies teacher and a lifelong fan of Little House on the Prairie, I was excited to read Pintsized Pioneers. It did not disappoint.
The 9-chapter book was full of first-hand accounts from those who experienced pioneering as young people and lived to tell the tale - and give us insight into the kind of work done by kids during the era of western expansion in America.
I appreciated the context the authors gave to set the backdrop for why children were so important during this time. It was enlightening to learn that “In 1850 Americans under the age of sixteen made up approximately forty-five percent of the country’s growing population,” and that “Between 1841…and 1865…some 40,000 children moved west…”
There was great emphasis placed on the dangers that came with pioneering life, and at what early ages children took on serious responsibilities. From the two-year-old who brought cows in from the fields to the nine-year-old who took a week to round up the horses his father sent him to retrieve, the “early self-reliance these frontier children displayed” was truly astonishing.
I was particularly struck by the reminder that death was a constant companion as they struggled to meet their basic needs. The children were depended upon to provide water for their families and animals, carrying gallons every day, and they also constantly searched for fuel sources to keep fires burning for cooking. They navigated torrential rains that flooded their sod homes and beat back prairie fires that threatened to consume their crops, animals, and possessions. Every day was a fight for survival, and for pioneer kids, “work was serious business that could mean the difference between whether or not a child and possibly his or her family could eat that day.”
The research and care the authors put into researching Pintsized Pioneers is evident in the narrative they’ve crafted and how they carefully curated primary source anecdotes. I know my former students would connect with the voices of the Pintsized Pioneers, and would question if they, too, could have survived the rigors of pioneer life.
Pintsized Pioneers took me back to my own childhood and the first time I read each of the Little House on the Prairie books. I enjoyed the reminder that the modern conveniences I enjoy are just that - conveniences that I’m sure pintsized pioneers would find miraculous.
If you liked this book, you might also enjoy these shows and movies: Little House on the Prairie, Lonesome Dove
You might enjoy listening to:
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Love your review. I also was struck by the notion that death was always a presence in life during these times.
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