Life and Experience of Pioneer Women in Wyoming

The world doesn’t see many women like Gay Day Alcorn. A very well known lady in the Valley, she was larger than life with a personality like no other. Her daughter, Libbi Alcorn Nauta shared her thoughts about Gay as well as the book that Gay was finishing when she passed away. 

Editor's note: Libbi’s actual quote was “She was NOT what my grandfather Ken Day used to call, ‘A street angel and a house devil. She was genuine, what you saw was what you got”.

Gay’s love of history gave way to many journeys through the years. Libbi reminisced about their trip to England and France when she was in the fourth grade. She remembers it was approved and encouraged by Mr. Vyvey and Mrs. Hileman. Libby also helped her mother by volunteering at the Saratoga Museum while growing up. 

Libbi said that the book that Gay was finishing is based on various women’s experiences during the pioneer settlement in the valley. The title of the book isn’t being released until editing is finalized, however the book was titled by Gay. The book is so large, they are thinking of dividing the material into two volumes. 

Libbi gave the audience a sneak peek at the upcoming books which describe the beauty of the local landscape in the county. It was still remote wilderness with concerns about Native Americans, and harsh winters. The women lived around bad men and harsh conditions with no modern medical equipment and certainly no cell phones.

Gay started writing the manuscript for this upcoming tome when she was working on Tough Country in the early 80s. Tough Country was published in 1984 and is no longer in print. Gay finished the dedication seven days before her passing. 

Libbi says the book is still being worked on and hopefully the first of the two will be published by December 15, Gay’s birthday. There is a Facebook page-Legacy Press Publisher and Instagram-legacy_press_books for more information. They are also working on a website-legacypresspublisher.com. 

Libbi’s goal is to complete something that her mother was extremely excited about getting done. She wants to honor Gay by getting her works published.