Time to enter to win a copy of the book

Frontier Teachers: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West.

Throughout history teachers have been at the forefront of all civilizations, educating and inspiring the next generation and keeping societies moving forward. Frontier Teachers captures that pioneering, resilient, and enduring spirit of teachers that lives on today.

Twenty-one-year-old Anna Webber rubbed her eyes and leaned against the rough wall of the sod schoolhouse where she taught. The view from the window of the small building framed the tall grass and wheat field around Blue Hill, Kansas, perfectly. A slight breeze in the middle distance brushed across the tops of cottonwood trees lining the banks of the Solomon Rivers, richly adding to the peaceful scene.

Anna squinted into the sunlight filtering into the tiny classroom and stretched her arms over her head. The one-room schoolhouse was empty of students, and the young teacher was sitting on the floor grading papers. The room was only big enough for a half dozen pupils but served more than sixteen children on most days.

Inside the roughly constructed building, made from strips cut from the prairie earth found in abundance around the small settlement, the furnishings consisted of a chair for the teacher and several boards balanced on rocks for the students to sit. There was no blackboard and no writing desks. The primitive conditions made Anna’s job more difficult than she had anticipated and robbed her of the job she initially felt when she entered the profession.

To learn more about Anna Webber and the school she founded in 1863, and about the other brave educators in an untamed new country read

Frontier Teachers: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West.

Time to enter to win a copy of the book

Frontier Teachers: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West.

Throughout history teachers have been at the forefront of all civilizations, educating and inspiring the next generation and keeping societies moving forward. Frontier Teachers captures that pioneering, resilient, and enduring spirit of teachers that lives on today.

The sprawling mining community of Bannack, Montana, was awash in the far-reaching rays of the morning sun. The rolling hills and fields around the crowded burg were thick with brush. Saffron and gold plants dotted the landscape, their vibrant colors electric against a backdrop of browns and greens. Twenty-seven-year-old Lucia Darling barely noticed the spectacular scenery as she paraded down the main thoroughfare of town. The hopeful schoolmarm was preoccupied with the idea of finding a suitable place to teach. Escorted by her uncle, Chief Justice Sidney Edgerton, Lucia made her way to a depressed section of the booming hamlet searching for the home a man rumored to have a building to rent.

Referring to a set of directions drawn out on a slip of paper, Lucia marched confidently to the door of a rustic, rundown log cabin and knocked. When no one answered right away, Chief Justice Edgerton took a turn pounding on the door. Finally, a tired voice called out from the other side for the pair to “come in.”

To learn more about Lucia Darling and the school she founded in 1863, and about the other brave educators in an untamed new country read

Frontier Teachers: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West.

Enter now to win a copy of the book

Frontier Teachers: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West.

Throughout history teachers have been at the forefront of all civilizations, educating and inspiring the next generation and keeping societies moving forward. Frontier Teachers captures that pioneering, resilient, and enduring spirit of teachers that lives on today.

A precious, wide-eyed seven-year-old boy studied a sample of the alphabet in front of him and tried to copy the material onto a small slate with a broken piece of chalk. His teacher, Mrs. Eliza Mott, stood over his shoulder, kindly guiding him through the work and praising him for his effort. A handful of other youngsters reviewed the letters and practiced writing them out with pencil stubs on scraps of paper. Eliza’s kitchen served as a classroom, and students sat on bare logs around a crude wooden table-some enjoying the learning process; others curing the day school was created.

The Carson Valley area were Eliza and her husband, Israel, settled in 1851 needed a place where children could learn the three R’s. In early 1852, the Motts offered their home as a temporary school; and, armed with a pair of McGuffey Readers, Eliza began teaching.

To learn more about Eliza Mott and the other brave educators in an untamed new country read Frontier Teachers: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West.

Enter now to win a copy of the book

Frontier Teachers: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West.

Throughout history teachers have been at the forefront of all civilizations, educating and inspiring the next generation and keeping societies moving forward. Frontier Teachers captures that pioneering, resilient, and enduring spirit of teachers that lives on today.

Twenty-two-year-old Olive Isbell cradled a loaded rifle in her arms and scanned the hilly landscape surrounding the adobe school where she taught at Santa Clara Mission in California. From far off she could hear a gun spit in swift five-syllable defiance, and she readied herself for a potential attack on the building. Twenty preoccupied students toiled away at the books and lessons in front of them. The exchange of gunfire was so routine it barely disturbed their studies.

The mission was under fire from the Mexican Army, which was trying to reclaim land it believed belonged to Mexico. Settlers scattered throughout the area had converged on the site for protection.

To learn more about Olive Isbell and the other brave educators in an untamed new country read Frontier Teachers: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West.