Hell on Women and Horses
"It was in the West, in consequence, that women had the greatest status."' Both Smith and Bird have borrowed their views from Arthur Calhoun, with whose opinions, in matters of American family…
Women’s Struggle on the Trail
"If we are to trust and respect their revelations in their diaries and recollections, the greatest struggle of women on the trail was the struggle to endure the hardship and suffering without becoming…
Lightening the Wagons
"As the emigrants moved up the grade approaching the Rockies, it became obvious that the overloaded wagons had to be lightened, and gradually they discarded materials not essential for survival. Domestic goods, of…
The Decision to Emigrate
"It is interesting to look at the decision to emigrate to Oregon or California in the light of the legal model of husbands' power. In their diaries and recollections many women…
Midwestern Folk Wisdom
"In Adams County, Illinois, the mass of advice directed toward the common problems of women reflected the sympathy women felt for one another. A girl entering her first period will have…
Female Stereotypes
"As for the historical understanding of Western women, the perspective of the old Western history could have been capsulated in three stereotypes: "Molly, Miss Kitty, and Ma." Molly, the Eastern schoolmarm…