WOMEN OF THE WEST' -- Part 1

SHEAFER, CRABTREE

Posted By: David (email)
Date: 2/15/2005 at 12:11:38

'WOMEN OF THE WEST'

by

Silvia Anne Sheafer
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FOREWORD: Following the discovery of gold in California in 1847, gold
seekers came by the thousands; Mexicans from the South, Chinese from the
West, European immigrants from the East. By 1850 there was in excess of 380
000 pioneers of which only eight percent were women, all seeking their
fortunes.

The first rush of people came mostly for gold, little more. And they
traveled long and arduously to reach the West. In the beginning, they came
across the Isthmus of Panama, fighting disease and jungle, sailing up the
coast of Lower California, finally debarking at San Francisco. Before long,
stage coaches and wagon trains were heading overland, battling highwaymen
and Indians. And at last a great railroad was constructed linking the
Atlantic and the Pacific.

Perhaps, the most complex newcomers were the women. They came to California
for many reasons, none of which was to dig for gold. The famous historian
Hubert Howe Bancroft wrote:

"The influence of women was strikingly exhibited in California mining camps.
A hush would fall upon the reveling miners at the appearance of a woman in
their secluded haunts. A chivalrous respect surrounded her wherever she
moved, and she could travel alone throughout the land assured of respect and
protection."

Such glowing prose about women and their sudden arrival in gold camps is
romantic to read, but not necessarily true. Some came West to be with their
husbands, others to seek marriage; the more ambitious sought theatrical
careers. The frail or weaker women, unable to cope with extreme hardship,
often fell in the turmoil. Those with a talent for writing sent messages
home, inscribing forever the events of frontier life.

In time women were the dominant force in establishing Victorian values that
smoothed away some of the raw edges of the period. But during the gaudy,
reckless days of the Gold Rush, a woman's lot was not as easy as Bancroft
would have us believe. In the following accounts, gathered together from
newspapers of the day, historical records and personal journals, the plight
of women is often seen as tragic or pathetic but always courageous.

This is their story.

To Be Continued . . . Lotta Crabtree.
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Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert
January 31, 2005
iggy29@rnetinc.net