Wilder was one of the first authors to show us that pioneer women were smart, skillful people who contributed as much to the welfare of their families as did men. She was a talented woman who did well at anything she attempted. She made enought money teaching school to send her sister to a special college for the blind. Another time, she got a job making buttonholes for a seamstress. Wilder sewed those buttonholes so well and so fast that she was rewarded with a huge salary--one dollar a day!--enough to pay for herself, her husband and daughter to move to Missouri. Later on she became a journalist, once even working as poultry editor for the St. Louis Star. At 63, when most people think of retiring, she wrote "Little House in the Big Woods." With the help of her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, it was published and soon became a great success.