The young daughter of an English-born U. S. infantry officer on the post–Civil War frontier, Mary Leefe Laurence had the childhood of an army nomad, accompanying the regiment from south Texas to the Canadian border. In faithfully recording her travels, she offers extensive and unique insight into life as a child and adolescent in the twilight of the Indian-fighting army.
Author Bio
Thomas T. Smith is a regular army lieutenant colonel of infantry assigned to Fort Bliss, Texas. He is the editor of A Dose of Frontier Soldiering (Nebraska 1996).
Praise
"For children, who didn’t know they were living under hardship, life on a western military post was exciting. . . . This account records a child’s view of the military’s last hurrah in the West."—Denver Post
"Written in 1944–45, the book offers Mary Leefe Laurence’s eyewitness account, from ages six to 26, of life at a series of frontier forts, including Fort Dodge and Fort Leavenworth. . . . Laurence offers rare glimpses of Western life and of a handful of historic figures, including Geronimo."—Publishers Weekly
