Telling It like It Was: Interviews with Arizona Pioneer Women

During the Depression, the Federal Writers Project conducted interviews with over 144 women who arrived in the Arizona Territory between 1850 and 1890. The women spoke of their long and dangerous journeys and with their words paint pictures of the hardships and life-threatening situations of their frontier existence. Through hard work, dedication, tenacity, and humor, they conquered and helped make a state. In their own words, hear Arizona’s original pioneer women’s stories, including those of the Udalls, Flakes, Kartchners, and Romeros.

From fashion copywriter to management consultant, from newspaper editor to university professor, Barbara Marriott’s insatiable curiosity has taken her down many paths. Now her hunt for Western history has added another twist of excitement to her life. Marriott uses her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology as a tool for understanding the Old West and its fascinating characters. After nine books about the Southwest’s pioneers and legends (with many of the books award-winning), she is on the trail searching for the next bit of unknown and unique history.