Pioneer loneliness: As the use of the term “frontier” implies, those who came to the west river country of South Dakota like Ed & Alice Brown of the Prairie Homestead in 1909, migrated to the geographic and psychological margin of their society. West river pioneers had left behind a full complement of social institutions ranging from the informal friendliness and aid of the neighborhood to a well defined and highly organized system of churches and schools. If the west river homesteaders were confused and frightened by the new terrain, climate and wildlife, they were perhaps even more deeply affected by the awesome prospect of utter loneliness – a prospect that the landscape seemed designed to assure. Occasionally they came in extended family groups or with friends, but often they arrived with only their immediate family or alone.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 02:55:00 +0000
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