All The Pretty Children

Jesse Peers arrived in the plains an unhappy despondent man. Rose Sikes entered his life through the manipulation of the mothers. Such matchmakers these women were. The young entrepreneur tried many things that always seemed to turn out well make a profit or gain. Jesse managed a sheep camp then developed an implement business with machines that moved Nebraska farmers into progressive ways of farming. Jesse Peers quilted together property: a patch of land here a failed homestead there and a piece of farm land nearby. Hessie the Oglala Sioux woman was protected and nurtured by Rose. Pearl Lux in the background but very prominent in their lives becoming a county sheriff and finally a US Marshall directing the lawlessness into a time of peace and prosperity. Hans Sikes seeking to protect his daughter and keep her close. Roses family so close knit but troubled and sometimes volatile ready to ignite and burn. Rose and Jesse married secretly sustained their vows and created a life. Roses desire to have a large family when Jesse had ambivalence about it all. The families were huge the land holdings were vast and the people industrious and ambitious. This story from the late 1800s until the turn of the century and beyond portrays the struggle of families who lived in the plains.