TOO LATE FOR THE FRONTIER

About the Author

Born before the Civil War, my grandfather was all set to leave Dubuque County, Iowa for homesteading in Nebraska when he discovered that the U.S. Land Office had closed. No more cheap land; he was too late for the frontier. He spent the rest of his life trying to live like a pioneer, making everybody else miserable in the process. His story is told here in letters written to me by his son (my uncle) in answer to my query: “What was it like, growing up in a prairie village at the turn of the century?” I have supplemented Benton Rees Anderson’s letters with my remembrances, along with those of other members of the family, and have provided a matrix for the family history that Benton was fond of laying out in his wittily sardonic prose. Franklin Pierce Anderson (1856-1932) was surely an eccentric character, but I see him as nonetheless representative of an American type, the independent man whose attempts at self-sufficiency foster anti-social attitudes. “Ann Berthoff writes forcefully and idiomatically, with insight and humor. Her book will interest those readers curious about the complexities of American culture, the evolution of life in the “Middle Border.” Many readers will find Franklin Pierce Anderson—and some of his relatives—unforgettable! I found my own parents on nearly every page.” --Robert D. Cross, University of Virginia