She filed because "she had done everything else."

Annetta Erickson
Burleigh 1900
[Full Image 47k]

Annetta (center) along with her two friends are shown wearing their Easter hats. After she proved up, Annetta moved back to her parents' homestead. She was an accomplished musician, playing the piano, auto harp, violin and guitar. For 45 years, she led community choirs and, during that time, authored two songbooks.

(Courtesy: John and Lila Erickson, Wilton)

Pauline Shoemaker-Crowley
Mercer 1911
[Full Image 60k]

Pauline (center) is riding with her friends Helen Cook (left) and Constance Schaffner (right). She represents the spirit of adventure which led women to "take claims." Pauline graduated from the Normal School in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and taught in that state, being "very proficient in Greek and Latin." About 1902, she secured a teaching position in Bismarck. From there, she journeyed to a similar position in California. Eventually she returned to North Dakota to become principal of a school in Mandan. In 1910, she took part in a horse roundup. In 1911, she filed on a homestead claim because "she had done everything else."

(Courtesy: Sheila Robinson, Coleharbor)

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Institute for Regional Studies
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