This image is the cover for the book One Hundred Sixty Acres of Dirt

One Hundred Sixty Acres of Dirt

This colorful history of pioneer life in Arizona sheds light on the experiences of the homesteader families who founded the Kansas Settlement.

In 1909, fifteen families left their homes in Kansas to claim homesteads a thousand miles away in a remote region of the Arizona Territory. In this beautiful but unforgiving new home, they would realize their dream of owning their own land. They named their new community Kansas Settlement.

Those who persevered met the challenges, raised their families, and prospered. Their determination was inspiring and left a legacy of courage. In One Hundred Sixty Acres of Dirt, author Marsha Arzberger tells the tales of these remarkable people—farmers, cowboys, pioneer women, and schoolmarms—drawn from personal journals and family scrapbooks.

A descendent of one of the original Kansas Settlement families, Arzberger vividly recounts their journey West, as well as their dealings with rustlers, droughts, Apaches, and straying husbands. This carefully researched account captures the daily lives, joys, and tragedies of Arizona’s Kansas Settlement.

Marsha Arzberger, Marshall Trimble

Marsha Arzberger flies her private plane when she travels. Her home base is a ranch in a high valley in southeastern Arizona. She is a search and rescue pilot, was an Arizona State Senator and Minority Leader, and was Dean of a Junior College. Marsha has a bachelor’s degree in Art and Business and a master’s degree in Public Administration. She published a historical romance novel, Passion’s Treasure, under the penname of Marsha Gibson, and self-published two family history books. She wrote articles in The Arizona Republic, The Arizona Range News, and the magazine Arizona Highways and appeared on national CNN television. Marsha loves delving into history and discovering how people lived in earlier generations, and she loves sharing them.

Morgan James Publishing