I need some books on how pioneers lived, not the children's books but good adult non-fiction. Does anyone know some good ones?

Thanks in advance

Sarah

A book I would recommend, but might not be what you are looking for is: "Captured by Indians" by Frederick Drimmer.  It gives the firsthand accounts of 15 persons who where captured by Indians.

Bad Land by Jonathan Raban and The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin are two I've read recently and enjoyed.

This one looks interesting.  It's not out yet, but i put it on my WL.

Across Death Valley: The Pioneer Journey of Juliet Wells Brier http://www.amazon.com/Across-Death-Valley-Pioneer-Journey/dp/0762745053/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2T7ESPJ4QACJR&colid=2DZS4CSJN1SU3

It has been a few years but I enjoyed "Old Jules" by Mari Sandoz.  It is a biography of her father who was a tough pioneer in western NE.  Of course there are some Willa Cather books too but they are fictional accounts.

Two I enjoyed were  Hearts West : True Stories of Mail-Order Brides on the Frontier by  Chris Enss and Pioneer Women by Joanna Stratton. (You may have guessed that my interest is primarily in women's history.)

"True Women"  by Janice Woods Windle.   The book is set back in the days of the Alamo, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston.   While the book does contain some fiction, it's based on the life of the authors'  grandmother.......I forget how many times removed.   Not only did the women face struggles with the mexican army, but they also had to deal with indians.

A.B. Guthrie (no relattion to Woody, I think)  was popular in the late 1940s with The Way West and The Big Sky. Blunt and realistic and not for the sensitive was Old Jules: Portrait of a Pioneer by Mari Sandoz.

What can I say?.......BLOOD AND THUNDER by Hampton Sides!!!