Pioneer Girl 5-2

 Pioneer Girl 5-2

    Pioneer Girl is the true story of Grace McCance and her family. In 1885, the McCance family filed a claim on land in Nebraska. They moved from Missouri to the shortgrass prairie and became homesteaders.
    Homesteaders had to watch the weather carefully. Hailstorms could destroy crops. Lightning could spark a fire if the weather was dry. Grace never forgot the first prairie fire that she saw as a child. Luckily, it died down right before it reached their house. A few months later, a rainstorm hit their homestead. Their sod house shook; the roof was torn off. Everything on the walls and shelves was either smashed or blown away.
    But there were also good memories. Before their first Christmas on the prairie, the McCances received three barrels full of molasses, apples, walnuts, and clothes from Grace's grandparents in Missouri.
    Most of the McCance's neighbors were European immigrants. Many came to farm the land, but some also came for religious freedom or to avoid paying high taxes. Most were poor. Everyone in the family had to work six days a week, including children as young as three and four.
    At age five, Grace herded the family's cows. She drove them to the fields each morning, stayed with them during the day, and brought them home at night. One young cow had especially bad temper. She charged grace one day and left her with a bad cut. Grace's father sold the cow a few days later and Grace kept herding. life on the prairie was never easy.