Reddit mentions of Roughing It, Part 1.

https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Homesteader-Elinore-Pruitt-Stewart/dp/1406830534

free on Amazon, made into a wonderful movie with Rip Torn and Conchata Farrell.

"The writer of the following letters is a young woman who lost her husband in a railroad accident and went to Denver to seek support for herself and her two-year-old daughter, Jerrine. Turning her hand to the nearest work, she went out by the day to work as a housecleaner and laundress. Later, seeking to better herself, she accepted employment as a housekeeper for a well-to-do Scottish cattleman, Mr. Stewart, who had taken up a quarter-section in Wyoming. The letters, written through several years to a former employer in Denver, tell of her new life in the new country. They are genuine letters, and are printed as written, except for occasional omissions and alterations of names."

The letters begin in 1909, apparently right after a homestead act made it possible for the author, Elinore Pruitt Stewart, to claim a homestead of 160 acres in Wyoming. Ms. Stewart is a very resourceful woman as well as a wonderful story-teller. She explains that she never received formal education but she refers to current literature so I am guessing that she has learned to write from her interest in reading. Apparently she was a prolific author in her time and one of her descendants has published a book about her. (There are pictures of her on the web and more information if you want to know more about her.)

Elinore has a cheerful and pragmatic approach to life making her well-written letters a lot of fun to read. She mostly writes about events, usually involving meeting some of the other inhabitants of the area, ranging from mountain men to Mormons.

Also, https://www.amazon.com/Elsie-Adventures-Arizona-Schoolteacher-1913-1916/dp/0983945209/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475204951&sr=1-5&keywords=elsie

In 1912, the first year of Arizona's statehood, rural Verde Valley was home to enterprising ranchers and farmers who raised cattle, crops ─ and children. These children needed a school. So just as they mail-ordered supplies from the Sears catalog, the community mail-ordered a teacher. Elsie Hayes, a college graduate, came from a world of concerts and literary clubs. The teacher's tiny shack in Cornvillle was a far cry from her family's lovely home in Long Beach, California. This cultured young woman drank water from an irrigation ditch, bathed in Oak Creek, and taught in a one-room schoolhouse to children first considered "common," but with whom she soon developed a mutual love. Though she had come to Arizona feeling a bit superior to these "backwoods" folks, her emotions transformed into admiration and respect, and the untamed wilderness became "breathtaking and glorious." IN THIS TRUE STORY, Elsie's 100-year-old journals, photographs and detailed letters home paint a picture of a time and place that has since faded, and give insight into the early history of Cornville and Williams, Arizona.

Also, Mark Twain https://www.amazon.com/Roughing-Part-1-Mark-Twain-ebook/dp/B00847QF6Y/ref=sr_1_3_twi_kin_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475205054&sr=1-3&keywords=mark+twain+roughing+it

This link is to only part 1. You can find it free on the internet.

The content is a delight for those who like Mark Twain and his style. I also like his insight and samples of living in America during the 1860s after the Civil War. He is an expert at putting one in his moment of time; describing the food, guns, transportation, mannerisms and folks around him.