Elise Waerenskjold is known to fans of Texas women writers as "the lady with the pen”, from the title of a book of her writings. A forward-looking journalist, she sent letters and articles back to Norway that encouraged others to follow her footsteps to Texas. Undaunted is the first full biography of Waerenskjold during her Texas years, a life story that tells much about Texas from 1847 until near the end of the century.