Cathy Luchetti

Children of the West

With over one hundred photographs, Cathy Luchetti tells the story of growing up in an awe-inspiring yet harsh landscape.

"Piecing together the story, like a mosaic or jigsaw puzzle from scattered entries in books and diaries, Cathy Luchetti throws open for us a long-shuttered window on the details of family life, motherhood and, especially, childhood, by combining insight with illuminating anecdote."—Richard H. Dillon, author of Captain John Sutter: Sacramento Valley's Sainted Sinner

In search of land and a new life, couples created farms and ranches in the rugged frontier. The children of the West took after their rugged and individualistic parents—they grew up learning determination with their prayers. While families worried about wild animals and Indian raids, their greatest difficulty might be just growing enough food to eat and staying sheltered. Yet, there was fun to be had, from tumbling down haystacks to grasshopper races, or a tea party with corncob dolls. Large families bustled with chores and chastisement, and there was endless opportunity for mischief among siblings.

The West attracted people from all over America and from all over the world. Luchetti looks at the lives of the black Exodusters, the native Spanish who created wealthy rancheros, and the Chinese and Japanese who sought greater economic opportunities than they could find in their homeland. And many new settlers encountered the Indians, whose lives were disrupted by the mandate of Manifest Destiny. Brought into lively, and often painful, proximity, their stories were made even more poignant through the lives of their children.

Children of the West reveals the bygone lives of the families who populated the pioneer West, as described in their own words in letters, diaries, and journals. We come close to them through their worries and joys. The photographs draw us even closer, as we see the face of family life in the changing West.

"Gracefully written, rigorously researched, Children of the West deftly evokes the vanished frontier of Western family life. A frequently amusing, occasionally frightening, invariably fascinating look at who we were—and an absolutely essential addition to the western bookshelf." —JoAnn Levy, author of For California's Gold and They Saw the Elephant: Women in the California Gold Rush

"Cathy Luchetti's Children of the West on little-known women pioneers vibrates with knowledge of the developing West and the families of every stripe who rushed to claim a piece of it. With sure-handed economy, Luchetti sketches in historical facts then lavishly animates them with rarely if ever published images and first-person writings. Readers will find it as absorbing as grandma's long-hidden diary." —Harriet Rochlin, Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West

"Full of marvelous yarns, inexplicable customs, genuine humor, and heart-stopping pathos, Cathy Luchetti's Children of the West uses archival photos, old letters, diaries, and journal excerpts to create a candid and unsentimental chronicle of childhood on the American frontier. It's a gem as priceless for today's reader as a healthy child was for the pioneer family." —Peggy Vincent, midwife, author of the forthcoming Baby Catcher

"A dynamic contribution to the history of the West. Cathy Lucetti's thoughtful and well-researched book on children in the West finally opens the windows on their lives. These children were every bit as important in the development of the West as the men and women who brought them or raised them. Most valued are the dozens of photos, excerpts of actual writings from the children themselves, and the strong section entitled "Ethnic Americans," which broadens our understanding of the West by featuring children of many cultures, not just the white pioneer children of yore. This volume will be of great interest to historians, writers, and all those who love and value children." —Claire Rudolf Murphy, Children of the Gold Rush