The prairies are one of the greatest gifts to humankind, for on this fertile and wide-open lands pioneers built a civilization and a culture, which has fed millions. This book presents the challenges faced by the first settlers along the Red River of Northern Minnesota. Here homesteaders settled the unbroken lands of the frontier and experienced seemingly endless obstacles in their quest to conquer the soil. Women bore the brunt of the burden, but children and men were not exempt from the agony of daily drudgery. Though the homestead was free, failure was more common than success and the price paid in toil, sweat, tears and broken bodies was great.