Prairie Fires

Author : Caroline Fraser
Publisher : Metropolitan Books
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2017-11-21
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781627792776

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Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser Pdf

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR The first comprehensive historical biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the beloved author of the Little House on the Prairie books Millions of readers of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls—the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true saga of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser—the editor of the Library of America edition of the Little House series—masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder’s biography. Revealing the grown-up story behind the most influential childhood epic of pioneer life, she also chronicles Wilder's tumultuous relationship with her journalist daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, setting the record straight regarding charges of ghostwriting that have swirled around the books. The Little House books, for all the hardships they describe, are paeans to the pioneer spirit, portraying it as triumphant against all odds. But Wilder’s real life was harder and grittier than that, a story of relentless struggle, rootlessness, and poverty. It was only in her sixties, after losing nearly everything in the Great Depression, that she turned to children’s books, recasting her hardscrabble childhood as a celebratory vision of homesteading—and achieving fame and fortune in the process, in one of the most astonishing rags-to-riches episodes in American letters. Spanning nearly a century of epochal change, from the Indian Wars to the Dust Bowl, Wilder’s dramatic life provides a unique perspective on American history and our national mythology of self-reliance. With fresh insights and new discoveries, Prairie Fires reveals the complex woman whose classic stories grip us to this day.

Author : Julie Courtwright
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2023-01-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9780700635139

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Prairie Fire by Julie Courtwright Pdf

Prairie fires have always been a spectacular and dangerous part of the Great Plains. Nineteenth-century settlers sometimes lost their lives to uncontrolled blazes, and today ranchers such as those in the Flint Hills of Kansas manage the grasslands through controlled burning. Even small fires, overlooked by history, changed lives-destroyed someone's property, threatened someone's safety, or simply made someone's breath catch because of their astounding beauty. Julie Courtwright, who was born and raised in the tallgrass prairie of Butler County, Kansas, knows prairie fires well. In this first comprehensive environmental history of her subject, Courtwright vividly recounts how fire-setting it, fighting it, watching it, fearing it-has bound Plains people to each other and to the prairies themselves for centuries. She traces the history of both natural and intentional fires from Native American practices to the current use of controlled burns as an effective land management tool, along the way sharing the personal accounts of people whose lives have been touched by fire. The book ranges from Texas to the Dakotas and from the 1500s to modern times. It tells how Native Americans learned how to replicate the effects of natural lightning fires, thus maintaining the prairie ecosystem. Native peoples fired the prairie to aid in the hunt, and also as a weapon in war. White settlers learned from them that burns renewed the grasslands for grazing; but as more towns developed, settlers began to suppress fires-now viewed as a threat to their property and safety. Fire suppression had as dramatic an environmental impact as fire application. Suppression allowed the growth of water-wasting trees and caused a thick growth of old grass to build up over time, creating a dangerous environment for accidental fires. Courtwright calls on a wide range of sources: diary entries and oral histories from survivors, colorful newspaper accounts, military weather records, and artifacts of popular culture from Gene Autry stories to country song lyrics to Little House on the Prairie. Through this multiplicity of voices, she shows us how prairie fires have always been a significant part of the Great Plains experience-and how each fire that burned across the prairies over hundreds of years is part of someone's life story. By unfolding these personal narratives while looking at the bigger environmental picture, Courtwright blends poetic prose with careful scholarship to fashion a thoughtful paean to prairie fire. It will enlighten environmental and Western historians and renew a sense of wonder in the people of the Plains.

Author : William Anderson
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2007-01-02
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 9780060885526

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Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson Pdf

From her pioneer days on the prairie to her golden years with her husband, Almanzo, and their daughter, Rose, Laura Ingalls Wilder has become a friend to all who have read about her adventures. This behind-the-scenes account chronicles the real events in Laura's life that inspired her to write her stories and also describes her life after the last Little House book ends.

Author : Bill Freeman
Publisher : James Lorimer & Company
Page : 230 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 1998
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 1550286080

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Prairie Fire! by Bill Freeman Pdf

Prarie Fire is an exciting adventure story as well as a fascinating account of what homesteading was like in the 1870s.

Author : Christine Woodside
Publisher : Skyhorse
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2016-09-06
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781628726596

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Libertarians on the Prairie by Christine Woodside Pdf

Generations of children have fallen in love with the pioneer saga of the Ingalls family, of Pa and Ma, Laura and her sisters, and their loyal dog, Jack. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books have taught millions of Americans about frontier life, giving inspiration to many and in the process becoming icons of our national identity. Yet few realize that this cherished bestselling series wandered far from the actual history of the Ingalls family and from what Laura herself understood to be central truths about pioneer life. In this groundbreaking narrative of literary detection, Christine Woodside reveals for the first time the full extent of the collaboration between Laura and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Rose hated farming and fled the family homestead as an adolescent, eventually becoming a nationally prominent magazine writer, biographer of Herbert Hoover, and successful novelist, who shared the political values of Ayn Rand and became mentor to Roger Lea MacBride, the second Libertarian presidential candidate. Drawing on original manuscripts and letters, Woodside shows how Rose reshaped her mother's story into a series of heroic tales that rebutted the policies of the New Deal. Their secret collaboration would lead in time to their estrangement. A fascinating look at the relationship between two strong-willed women, Libertarians on the Prairie is also the deconstruction of an American myth. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Author : Marilynn Reynolds
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : Canada
ISBN : 1551431750

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The Prairie Fire by Marilynn Reynolds Pdf

A young boy's heroic efforts help save his family's prairie home. Beautiful pencil drawings depict this story of the early prairie years.

Author : Pamela Smith Hill
Publisher : South Dakota State Hist Society
Page : 221 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780977795567

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Laura Ingalls Wilder by Pamela Smith Hill Pdf

"[E]xamines Wilder's tumultuous, but ultimately successful, professional and personal relationship with her daughter-the hidden editor-Rose Wilder Lane.

Author : William W. Johnstone,J.A. Johnstone
Publisher : Pinnacle Books
Page : 337 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2022-01-25
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780786047345

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Prairie Fire by William W. Johnstone,J.A. Johnstone Pdf

Johnstone Country. Ready, Aim, Kill. Luke Jensen tracks down a deranged Yankee-turned-outlaw with a burning passion to torch the prairies, torment the townsfolks, and turn all he sees into a smoldering cinder . . . CAUTION: CONTENTS MAY BE FLAMMABLE In the darkest days of the Civil War, Neville Goldsmith set the world on fire. As Captain for the Union Army, he marched with General Sherman through Georgia, setting homes and cities ablaze with sadistic glee. For Goldsmith, starting fires was a lifelong obsession. And when the war ended, he set his sights on the great American West—to burn it all to the ground . . . Years later, Luke Jensen learns about a series of fires wreaking havoc from the Dakota Territory to Kansas. Each fire appears to be man-made—a way to distract the locals while outlaws rob their banks and loot their towns. The gang’s leader is the demented firebug Goldsmith, along with an equally psychotic partner, Trask. As their fiery reign of terror rages out of control, Luke Jensen decides to do something crazy himself: Infiltrate the gang—and fight fire with gunfire. Live Free. Read Hard.

Author : Omer Call Stewart
Publisher : University of Oklahoma Press
Page : 388 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : History
ISBN : 0806134232

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Forgotten Fires by Omer Call Stewart Pdf

A common stereotype about American Indians is that for centuries they lived in static harmony with nature, in a pristine wilderness that remained unchanged until European colonization. Omer C. Stewart was one of the first anthropologists to recognize that Native Americans made significant impact across a wide range of environments. Most important, they regularly used fire to manage plant communities and associated animal species through varied and localized habitat burning. In Forgotten Fires, editors Henry T. Lewis and M. Kat Anderson present Stewart's original research and insights, written in the 1950s yet still provocative today. Significant portions of Stewart's text have not been available until now, and Lewis and Anderson set Stewart's findings in the context of current knowledge about Native hunter-gatherers and their uses of fire.

Author : Stephen J. Pyne
Publisher : UBC Press
Page : 581 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2011-11-01
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9780774840279

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Awful Splendour by Stephen J. Pyne Pdf

Fire is a defining element in Canadian land and life. With few exceptions, Canada's forests and prairies have evolved with fire. Its peoples have exploited fire and sought to protect themselves from its excesses, and since Confederation, the country has devised various institutions to connect fire and society. The choices Canadians have made says a great deal about their national character. Awful Splendour narrates the history of this grand saga. It will interest geographers, historians, and members of the fire community.

Author : Wendy McClure
Publisher : Riverhead Books
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2012-04-03
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781594485688

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The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure Pdf

A pioneer pilgrimage, a tribute to Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a hilarious account of butter-churning obsession will make this a sure favorite.

Author : Robert Loren Morlan
Publisher : Praeger
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 1974-10-25
Category : Education
ISBN : 9780837176390

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Political Prairie Fire by Robert Loren Morlan Pdf

Author : MaryLou Driedger
Publisher : Heritage House Publishing Co
Page : 109 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2021-05-25
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 9781772033694

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Lost on the Prairie by MaryLou Driedger Pdf

Shortlisted, 2021 Manitoba Book Awards, Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book Nominated, Manitoba Young Readers Choice Awards 2023, Sundogs Award Set between Kansas and Saskatchewan in 1907, this middle-grade novel follows a young boy who gets separated from his family en route to Canada and must find his way alone across the immense prairie landscape. Following the sudden death of his eldest brother, twelve-year-old Peter is chosen by his father to travel by train from Kansas to Saskatchewan to help set up the new family homestead. But when Peter's boxcar becomes uncoupled from the rest of the train somewhere in South Dakota, he finds himself lost and alone on the vast prairie. For a sheltered boy who has only read about adventures in books, Peter is both thrilled and terrified by the journey ahead. Along the way, he faces real dangers, from poisonous snakes to barn fires; meets people from all walks of life, including famous author Mark Twain; and grows more resourceful, courageous, and self-reliant as he makes his way across the Midwest to the Canadian border, eventually reaching his new home in Drake, Saskatchewan. The journey expands Peter's view of the world and shows him that the bonds of family and community, regardless of background, are universal and filled with love. Packed with excitement and adventure, this coming-of-age novel features a strong and likeable young protagonist and paints a realistic portrait of prairie life in the early twentieth century.

Author : Hal Morgan,Andreas Brown
Publisher : David R. Godine Publisher
Page : 218 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 1981
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN : UOM:39015006773470

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Prairie Fires and Paper Moons by Hal Morgan,Andreas Brown Pdf

Author : Caroline Fraser
Publisher : Metropolitan Books
Page : 416 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2014-04-29
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9781429924528

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Rewilding the World by Caroline Fraser Pdf

A gripping account of the environmental crusade to save the world's most endangered species and landscapes—the last best hope for preserving our natural home Scientists worldwide are warning of the looming extinction of thousands of species, from tigers and polar bears to rare flowers, birds, and insects. If the destruction continues, a third of all plants and animals could disappear by 2050—and with them earth's life-support ecosystems that provide our food, water, medicine, and natural defenses against climate change. Now Caroline Fraser offers the first definitive account of a visionary campaign to confront this crisis: rewilding. Breathtaking in scope and ambition, rewilding aims to save species by restoring habitats, reviving migration corridors, and brokering peace between people and predators. Traveling with wildlife biologists and conservationists, Fraser reports on the vast projects that are turning Europe's former Iron Curtain into a greenbelt, creating trans-frontier Peace Parks to renew elephant routes throughout Africa, and linking protected areas from the Yukon to Mexico and beyond. An inspiring story of scientific discovery and grassroots action, Rewilding the World offers hope for a richer, wilder future.