Kitturah Belknap and her husband George moved to Iowa in the 1830s and labored to save money to buy their land. This is a good review of the role of women in early Iowa. This is highly readable and will help you understand what life was like on the Iowa frontier. Link: https://ir.uiowa.edu/annals-of-iowa/vol44/iss1/8/ (Annals of Iowa, #44, 1977. It is also in Glenda Riley’s wonderful collection of memoirs and autobiographies from 19th Century Iowa women called Prairie Voices.)
