The Queen of Heartbreak Trail

In all honesty I was blown away with this book. It is like reading a grown up version of "Little House on the Prairie". The best part is that it is all true and is really an amazing and comprehensive account of a very important part of American history. Namely, the travel to and settlement of the west. It is a riveting story of the author's ancestors including where they came from, why they chose to move west, and the struggles they faced. The center piece or person of the story is an incredible lady by the name of Harriet Smith Pullen. Yes, she is the same lady who is also known as "The Mother of the North" but this book gives more life and details of her accomplishments and determination to make a good life for herself and her family. The amount of time and effort the author must have taken to pull this book together in a readable format is commendable. The book may not appeal to everyone but it most certainly will to those who love history. I really recommend this book. It will give you a more personal account of the people who lived in "pioneer days". I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review. I am so impressed with this book that I actually went a bought another book the author wrote :)

What an interesting read! If you like history this is for you. Fascinating glimpse into the life of a formidable woman.

An interesting book on a woman I truly had never heard of. But we you start to learn about Harriet Smith Pullen you will wish he had heard of her before in your history books. She contributed to Alaska with her hospitality and not the illegal kind that helped people to remember the area she lived in. Her story was not always an easy road but she made it hers. I highly recommend this book.

This was an interesting historical read.

So much history here, learning about her family's beginnings, her father who was a Christian crusader, her mother who was often left alone to raise her children in harsh conditions. Homesteading in the Dakotas, the grasshopper invasion, such fought times but her father farmed, made brooms, taught school and did whatever was necessary for his family's survival. Heading west we encounter the Klondike gold rush, Harriett's marriage to Daniel and much about the Quileute Indian Nation and dead horse canyon, which was heartbreaking.

Taken from letters, diaries and court documents these lives are set down in print, not written in narrative form I found it difficult to get inside these people's heads. But generally one can infer from the records how hardy these people were and how capable a woman Harriet proved to be. Occasionally the author went off on side trips that I didn't think necessary, nor felt they added anything to the story. Still all the history, the difficulties of homesteading, the disasters, plans gone awry and the constant threat of insolvency kept me interested.

ARC from Netgalley.

This true story made me very, very glad to live when I do! This is an excellent history of a strong woman persevering in the face of adversity.

This is very well done family history, reconstructing the life of Harriet Smith Pullen, daughter of peripatetic pioneers (New England, Wisconsin, Dakota, Western Washington--this is a really interesting parallel to the Little House on the Prairie migration pattern) who, left a young widow with four children, seized the opportunity to join the Skagway gold rush to Alaska, eventually running the Pullen House hotel for decades. Brackbill, who is a descendant, uses professional art historian skills to piece this together in a less on both how much documentation is out there AND how quickly families warp and brush off their own history.