"Family history, usually destined or even designed for limited consumption, is a familiar genre within Mormon culture. Mostly written with little attention to standards of historical scholarship, such works are a distinctly hagiographic form of family memorabilia. But many family sagas in the right hands can prove widely engaging, owing to inherent drama and historical relevance. They can truthfully illuminate larger matters of history, humanity, and culture. Kerry Bate proceeds on the premise that a story centering on the women of the clan could provide fresh perspective and insight. He portrays real people with well-rounded, flawed characters; builds from deep research; writes with a bit of style; and includes the rich context and detail of these lives. His main subjects are four generations of impressive women: the pioneer Catherine Campbell Steele; her daughter, Young Elizabeth, the first Mormon child born in Utah; Kate, an accomplished community leader; and Sarah, a gifted seamstress trapped in an unhappy marriage. To enter their hardscrabble lives in small southern Utah communities is to meet women who pioneered in their own modest but determined ways"-- "A singular narrative woven from the biographies of four generations of women in southwestern Utah. This book takes a provocative and unapologetic look at the lives of four generations of women from 1816 to 1949, who faced all that men, environment, and God could throw at them. It's the story of failings and triumph in a world that often valued women cheaply, dismissed them easily, and granted nothing cheerily. Though their stories are informed by Utah and Mormon history, their lives represent the experiences of many women of their era. They also provide a personal look at the effects of technological and societal changes in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While all four women moved within the lower spheres of economic status, several of them played important roles in their towns in southwestern Utah. Their stories share the rich social history of these communities and their interactions with other town members. With humor and detail, Kerry Bate reveals the women's struggles to nurture their families and survive, the value they found in joining forces, and their sometimes subtle insubordination against the rules of men"--