Eleanor Pruitt Stewart was widowed at a young age, and as a single mother of a small baby, she moved

To the remote lands of Wyoming, USA. It could be a difficult and perhaps tragic story, but it wasn't. Eleanor became a symbol of female bravery in the Wild West.

In 1909, she began working as a housekeeper for a settler named Henry Stewart, and through her letters, which are presented in full here, she shares her adventures in the Wild Book Settlement.

Eleanor was a pioneer, and acted like a revolutionary: she cultivated her own plot with practical and graceful talent, and shared with readers her new life – the successes, the fear, and the relationship that developed between woman and nature.

Her writings are more than a description of life on the frontier of settlement; they are a vibrant and powerful testimony to the right of women to achieve freedom and shape their own destiny .

"I wanted to earn every cent that went to my land and the realization of my rights. Sometimes I really racked my brains about how I would do it, but I know I would succeed; other women have succeeded too. I know some who can laugh at the troubles of the past today. You know? – I am a firm believer in laughter. I am quite superstitious about it. I think that if bad luck comes your way, it will pick itself up and run away if you just laugh out loud in its face."