Working the Land: The Stories of Ranch and Farm Women in the Modern American West by Sandra K. Schackel

Helen Tiegs didn't take to driving a tractor when she became a farmer's wife, but after fifty years she considers herself the hub of the family operation. Lila Hill taught piano, then ultimately took a job off the farm to augment the family income during a period of rising costs. From Montana's cattle pastures to New Mexico's sagebrush mesas, women on today's ranches and farms have played a crucial role in a way of life that is slowly disappearing from the western landscape.

Hardcover
Black & White Images
136 pages
ISBN: 978-0-7006-1780-7

About the author: Sandra Schackel is professor of history emerita at Boise State University and author of Social Housekeepers: Women Shaping Public Policy in New Mexico.

Image description: The cover features a photograph of a cowgirl holding a lasso, riding a brown horse through a field. The title and subtitle are printed above the photograph on a dark blue background; the author's name is printed underneath the photograph on the same dark blue background.