How Did The Pioneer Women Do All of This?
Posted By Jacque on August 26, 2007
They say necessity is the Mother of invention…
You have no idea how many times in the past 2 months I have asked myself, “How did the pioneer women do all of this?”. How did they do all of the planting and harvesting and cooking and cleaning and laundry and canning, and… and…. sheesh – take a breath! I read an older post on a friends’ blog last night (she has 6 children), and she was asking how moms with a dozen children do everything they do. Then, top all of that with the fact that the girls have been wearing their prairie bonnets all over that Brielle sent them as a sweet gift, and I had to find an answer to this perplexity that has been bugging me so much lately.
Today, I went out to make some stands for the chick feeders and waterers, and I am out there, with the Littles and a couple of older children. They came out to help, and kind of withered away in the help department after they carried up a few small pieces of wood. Now, you know, I have had a hard time keeping the garden weeded and stalls repaired and built, the housework done, because I have a beautiful little LittleLucyLillie to tote around. I absolutely do not mind the toting; it’s the work that doesn’t get done that bothers me. I can hardly strap my LittleLuc on my back and go out and work in the barn yet… and pulling weeds in the hot sun with the little pumpkin on my back is out-of-the-question. Well, at least until she is 6 months old, anyway. Anyway, today, Amanda was holding her.
So, again… I ask myself, “How did these pioneer women do all of this?”. All of this WORK? I mean, they had no running water, no electricity. They had to GROW ALL THEIR FOOD… in the garden or in the fields and store it for the entire year. And, did their children complain about having to work? I know Junior didn’t have to mow the lawn, but did he complain about all the other tasks he was responsible to do?
Did little Suzy complain when she had to go and help with the bread-baking and laundry-scrubbing?
Watching Little House on the Prairie does not qualify me to live the pioneer life. I really want to know how this was done. And I’m sure I don’t know nearly as much about pioneer life as I used to think I did.
Never fear, as I looked over some planning notes for homeschool, I thought again, “Why not just take a look at Pioneer info, just to see what comes up?”, so keyboard in hand, I googled ‘work “in the pioneer days” ‘. It came up with a lot of interesting info about pioneer life. As I perused everything from how to build a house to what foods they planted to candle-making and root cellars, I thought how much I would love for our children to learn some things, instead of just thinking they know, too. We take a lot for granted in this day and age. No matter how strong our faith is, it seems to me that we don’t have to have much faith sometimes. These families had to have faith. They didn’t have a heater that almost always worked. They couldn’t run down to their local grocery or gas station and just pick up something they needed to bake bread.
These women were planners, and they were diligent, because if they weren’t, they would die. Period. They had to teach this to their children, because their children would have to know it for adulthood. Besides, they knew the value of many hands lightening the load. They understood that you slept in the same bed with your siblings so you wouldn’t literally freeze to death, instead of crabbing, because they wanted their own little rooms all to themselves.
We watched Pioneer House on PBS a couple of years ago, and I couldn’t believe how people treated each other and did not want to do the work that was necessary to live by. They had agreed to live as a pioneer family and abide by the ways of the 1800s era in every way, and then, some of them even crossed into this century and went to a little shop and bought some pies and other sweets and treats. I mean, yes, it was hard work, but, what? It was not long that this family just quit doing what was necessary to live. The husband got all skinny and really sick… They lacked the diligence and the understanding of life out on the prairie. It was really life and death. You don’t harvest enough hay and grains for your animals… um, you don’t get to run down to Tractor Supply for some straw. The guy who was wise and saved more than you did it to sell for profit… he gets yours.
Diligence.
Hard Work.
Working Together toward a common goal.
Planning for the future.
Teaching it all to your children.
I found so much information on pioneering, I think there may be too much to learn! That won’t stop me though! I am now in the process of reformatting some of the plans and ideas that I found online. I know we have a few American Girl cook books and craft books to get out and look at.
Jocelyn had researched the 1800s lifestyle and etiquettes and different information for her novel, and it will be interesting using her book as a resource for our Unit Study.
I have said many times that I was born in the wrong era/century, thinking how nice it would be to have a simple life, tending the children and the garden, teaching them. And, now, our lives have been so simplified, and it still isn’t simple enough, because it seems that is all we do, and I am still wondering how to do it all. Having 2 goats a year ago was a lot different than having 5 more with the 2 milking now. Of course, then there is the fact that we no longer grab a bag of feed and give it to them. We mix our own formula of grains and then we also graze them in a sort o ‘goat tractor’ everyday. Jocelyn has taken over this daunting task, of course, but it still involves the entire family. The biggest problem with the horses is keeping up with stall repairs and locks on the doors, so there isn’t much work there, though Amanda would tend to disagree, since she shovels the stalls each morning!
Right now, we are caring for the 60+ chickens we have down in a stall in the barn. I just put up an inside door to the stall, but the outside top stall door broke off, so we have that and some pasture gates and fence built… time and money, my friend! I wish I had been taught about planning. It’s hard to keep up with everything while you get things in order and fixed, too.
So, I will be researching the pioneer days. We will be living it out. I would really like to go without electricity for a week, but I don’ thing dh will go for that! (Yikes!! Can you imagine– the girls and no blogging privileges for a whole week!!)?? There are, however, many other ways to experience the pioneer days here in IN. In a few weeks is the Johnny Appleseed Festival in Fort Wayne, and I want to go. I need to look at the schedule and see how I can fit that into the schedule… er, the other way around!
It will be interesting to study the pioneering from the standpoint of our own state and local area. I know there are historical markers all over that we can go and experience and discuss and dream about ‘how it all was back then’.
Whatever direction this takes us in, I know it will be fun and we can cover any kind of topics about pioneering we seem to find interesting. Hopefully, I can find some relief for my question about how the Pioneer Women did it. I just don’t think I will ever really understand their plight, short of living it out. I know one place to start though… I am positive they got to bed before 3 am every night. *That* is what I want to start with. Enough sleep to get up at the crack of dawn.
Some interesting and fun sites I found about pioneering:
Pioneer Children’s Games
Life on a Pioneer Farm
Indiana Pioneer Life
The Homestead
This post is a part of The 13th Homesteading Carnival. Please take a few moments and look at the beautiful Carnival posted at Simple Folk.
It is also a part of the Carnival of Homeschooling and the Carnival of Education… Check them out!!!!.
Blessings to you!!!
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Posted by quietcajun 08-27
I have less children than you do and other than a dog… no animals. My garden is pathetic and I have no clue how I would survive on the prairie! Thankfully I have other gifts or I would feel kind of useless right about now! LOL!
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007 – LOL
Oh, Christina – You crack me up!!
Yeah, I really don’t want to be Mrs. Perfect Homesteader… I just want a garden that isn’t a jungle and tasks done without having to tell 6 children each 5x/day/task. Ok, so I am exaggerating.
Really, our children do work, and they work hard… it’s the nagging and the crabbing in-between I want to curb. Yes… “train it out of them”… That’s what I’m working on!
I know there will always be work, but as I said… those pioneers *had* to do it to live. No choice.
Precisely.
-J
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Posted by Canadagirl
I really enjoyed this post ! Our family might be going with out water if it freezes ( our temporary water system) if we are not able to get the permanent one in. We will know if we have to go to court by the end of this month. ( two days to go) Then we will see if can get it in.
Oh , btw. Thank you soooooo much for your instructions for Mr. Linky. B/c of it I got it to work. If you know how to make it for a weekly thing. I would appreciate your advice.
God Bless
In Him<><
-Mary
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Oh, btw. HAPPY BIRTHDAY [0=
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Just a F.Y.I. here in Huntington, on Sept. 22nd and 23rd is the Pioneer Festival held at Hiers Park.
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Happy Birthday Mrs. Dixon!
Britta
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I am definitely going to check out some of those links. That is so interesting!! I have always wondered about how life would be as a pioneer. We have a little re-enactment village near to our house about the pioneers. There are so many things that they had to grow/make that I never even think about!! People back then were so much more disciplined and hard working than we are. We’re so spoiled.
I think it’s all about the perspective. We seem to view life as mainly pleasure with some necessary work. The pioneers viewed life as necessary work with some occasional pleasure.
Oh, and I didn’t realize it was your birthday!!
Bon anniversare!!
Regards,
Sylvia
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Some answers in this book about the history of housework
A year or two ago, I read the book “Never Done: A History of American Housework” by Susan Strasser. It answers some of your questions, but leaves many unanswered. At any rate, it was very interesting, and whenever I think I have too much to do, I remember all these chores and count my blessings. Of course, they didn’t know any better, everyone had the same work to do, and maybe 50 or 100 years from now they’ll think we had it tough. The book is still available from Amazon.
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I would love to live on a farm and dream of owning one someday. The pioneer days are some of my favorite but I can’t imagine how they did it all. Thanks for all the information and links. It sounds like a great project. I love visiting and reading here. Did you mention your daughter wrote a novel? Or did I misunderstand? I would love to get a copy for my duaghter if it’s published. I have visited her blog and am very impressed. You’ve done a good job mom. Keep up the good work. We need more adults like this in our world.
Ruth
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children and work
I am 74 and I remember doing all the laundry, my sister and I, on sat. morning. My dad made boxes for us to stand on. There was boiling water in the washing machine. We used a stick to pull out the clothes and put into the wringer. They fell into the rinsing barrel and the wringer swung around. We hung it all out and then on Sunday we irond. We were in the third grade. Mom worked int he defense plants so we did the house work, cooking, etc. We NEVER said we were bored. That meant more work. We never complained and were happpy to have a good meal. WE did the dishes. To this day I can make a great apple pie with my eyes closed. Food is simple but delicious. Know how to garden and hoe. Do not complain about much. Children of today are spoiled, useless and ruined. They could not survive a month alone. Shame. I did not have it as hard as my great grandmother but I leared to pitch in an help without a whimper.
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Anonymous~
Our children need to learn these things. They need to learn hard work. The ydo not need more play things and more to amuse themselves. Society today DOES train children up to look for fun and playtime. Many do not know the fruit and worth of a hard day’s work.
“Spoiled, useless and ruined” I would have to agree with that. I did not have it easy and have things handed to me as a child. We did work and did not get things for free. Our children, though, have it much harder. We are training men and women here, not children. We do not want them to become 40-something yo children, seeking amusement and ease of life for themselves.
We can learn so much from our ancestors. We are looking in the wrong places for the answers. Our earth and society are coming to ruin because we always have to take the easy way out, instead of doing what it takes to earn what we get.
May the LORD bless and keep you!
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