Children tread lightly through the pages of Old West history. Pintsized Pioneers: Taming the Frontier, One Chore at a Time gives frontier children their due for all the work they did to assist their families. Even at early ages, the youngsters helped families make ends meet and handled chores that today seem unbelievable. Written for today's young adults, Pintsized Pioneers offers lessons on frontier history and on the value of work for contemporary youth.
In 1850 adolescents 16 and under accounted for 46 percent of the national population, making them an important labor force in settling the country. Pintsized Pioneers examines their tasks and toils starting with the chores on the trail west. Children assisted in providing fuel and water on the trail and at home when they settled down. In their new locations the young ones helped grow food, make clothing for the entire family and assist with the housekeeping in primitive dwellings.
These pintsized pioneers took on farm and ranch chores as young as six, some going on cattle drives at eight years of age. Even Old West town tykes, who enjoyed more career possibilities, helped their folks survive as well. In the end, many pintsized pioneers pitched in to help their families make ends meet. Difficult as their lives might have been, the lessons those children learned handling chores helped them and their country in the years ahead. Those pintsized lessons have contemporary applications to the youth of today.
Targeted at young adults, Pintsized Pioneers is written at a ninth-grade reading level and includes a supplementary glossary. Even so, Pintsized Pioneers is an eye-opener for adult readers as well.
Lewis, Harriet Kocher: - Harriet Kocher Lewis is the award-winning editor and publisher of Bariso Press. Titles she has edited have been honored with Will Rogers Medallion Awards, Spur Finalist designations and Independent Author Awards. She is co-author with her husband of three books in the "Magic Machine Series" published by Bariso Press. A native Pennsylvanian, she graduated from State College High School. She has a bachelor's degree from Baylor University in biology and physical therapy and a master's degree from Texas Tech in kinesiology. She spent 26 years as a physical therapist in hospitals, outpatient clinics, nursing homes and home health. Lewis concluded her physical therapy career as the inaugural clinical coordinator for the physical therapy program at Angelo State University, where she wrote and edited numerous scientific papers as well as a chapter in a clinical education textbook. She is married to award-winning author Preston Lewis and the mother of a son and daughter as well as the grandmother of four granddaughters and a grandson. Each summer she organizes and hosts a summer camp for their five grandchildren.
Lewis, Preston: - Author and historian Preston Lewis has published more than 50 fiction and nonfiction works. The versatile author's books include traditional westerns, historical novels, comic westerns, young adult books, and historical accounts. In 2021 he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for his literary accomplishments. His writing honors include two Spur Awards from Western Writers of America and three Elmer Kelton Awards from the West Texas Historical Association. He has received ten Will Rogers Medallion Awards for western humor, short stories, traditional westerns and nonfiction articles. In 2024 he earned an inaugural Literary Global Independent Author Award in the Western Nonfiction category for Cat Tales of the Old West as well as two finalist designations in the IAA's Memoir and Humor categories. Lewis is a past president of Western Writers of America and the West Texas Historical Association, which named him a fellow in 2016. He earned a bachelor's degree from Baylor University and a master's degree from Ohio State University, both in journalism. He holds a second master's degree in history from Angelo State University. Lewis resides in San Angelo, Texas, with his wife Harriet Kocher Lewis.
