Woman of the Plains : the journals and stories of Nellie M. Perry /

In 1888, Nellie Perry, then 22, traveled to the Texas Panhandle to visit her homesteading brother. She returned often, later mothering her widowed brother's daughters, finally moving to Texas in 1916. She kept rather formal journals on these and other trips, and published some pieces in magazines early in the 20th century. Perry's writing has a polite reader in mind; it is not given much to introspection or intimate self-revelation. Her picture of frontier women presents worn but plucky women, cheerful and resourceful in difficult circumstances, sharing their men's burdens, acting often as leaders in cultural affairs. The volume is sensibly edited in an attractive format; photos, but no map for non-Texans. Primarily of regional interest, but also recommended for research libraries committed to strong holdings in western and women's history. A. Graebner; College of St. Catherine