Frontier Women Seminararbeit FINAL

7/31/2019 Frontier Women Seminararbeit FINAL

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Ruhr-Universitt BochumEnglisches Seminar

The Other Frontier: Womens Experienceson the American Frontier


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Contents

I. Introduction 3

II. The American Frontiera Males Myth 4

III. Womens Role in the West 7

IV. The Loneliness of Pioneer Women 10

V. Social Disorder and Pioneer Women

as Civilizing Agents 15

VI. Conclusion 19

Works cited 20


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I. Introduction

The American Frontier is one of the United States great myths that has

shaped the whole nations perception of their world. Even though manyscholars are puzzled by its meaning and the vague definition of the Frontier

(West 1994, 115), it still remains a concept which captured the American

publics imagination and [is] now deeply woven into the American

consciousness (Ridge 1991, 2). The Frontier immediately evokes images in

everyones head pictures of a vast and wild land that has been conquered

and subjugated by man.

Even Frederick Jackson Turner, one of the great historians of that time,

called the Frontier the meeting point between savagery and civilization

(Engler 2007, 415). This wilderness is mostly depicted by settlers moving

over the mountains in their trail wagons and also strong and fearless

cowboys facing the dangers and isolation of the Frontier. In history books,

essays and many accounts of the American Frontier we find the glorified man

(Hahn 2008, 149) who turned wilderness into the American nation. Of most of

the ideas of the Frontier one important element has been denied or is

missing the pioneer woman. The experiences of all these women who were

on the Frontier as well and were facing the wilderness are often denied or

hardly mentioned. Female scholars bemoaned this obscured reality. Inspired

by the feminist movement in the 20thcentury, women were eager to recover

their past and historians tried to place absent women in the westward

movement (Walsh 1995, 244). Therefore, this paper tries to find answers to

the questions of what this male myth of the Frontier looks like, what the

reasons for muting womens experiences in frontier history were, and what

the female role in this context was. It will also address one common element

that can be found in many of the accounts of pioneer women loneliness. It

is to examine how loneliness was expressed, how these women coped with

their loneliness and tried to overcome it. Then we will learn how women

perceived violence and how they counteracted social disorder and describe

womens tasks asmissionaries of civilization(Jeffrey 1983, 79). As the topic

of this paper indicates we will take a look at the other Frontier and try to see

it through the eyes of the pioneer women.


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I. The American Frontiera Males Myth

In the course of the westward movement in the early days of the nations

history, many settlers were excited to leave their homes in the east and face

the American Frontier. The first settlers had troubles taming the wilderness

that lay ahead but the westward expansion across the whole continent

gained momentum. Huge numbers of emigrants travelled along the trails by

wagon in their personal pursuit of happiness, freedom, and opportunities.

This journey was very dangerous and hard so that many gave up on their

way to the frontier. However the completion of the transcontinental railroad in

1869 made it much easier for settlers to move west. By that time the

population of the land that had been unsettled before was continuously

increasing. People were flocking to destinations all over the country. Many of

them suffered hardships but others in turn found their fortune in the West

(Jeffrey xi - xii). In 1890 the superintendent of the U.S. census stated that the

frontier disappeared and announced the closing of the Frontier (Burchell and

Gray 1992, 131). Frederick Jackson Turner declared that the first period ofAmerican history had ended with the closing of the frontier (Ridge 10).

The American Frontier soon became a phenomenon characterized as

an area of rapid change (Burchell and Gray 130) and has always been a

powerful picture, which mostly portrays men as conquerors of wilderness.

The mythical force (Burchell and Gray 142) of the heroic tales of the

American West, has portrayed and glorified men as the ultimate heroes.

Tales and stories of great adventures, dangers and pioneering experiences

are mostly of a male cast. (Armitage 1982, 2). The range of famous heroic

pioneers goes from Davy Crockett, Mike Fink, Buffalo Bill, and of course the

famous Daniel Boone (Burchell and Gray 145). Boone serves as the

archetype of the American frontiersman and pioneer, and became an icon of

the experiences the American pioneers made at the Frontier (West 115).

Talking about famous pioneer heroes, one man must not be omitted

James Fenimore Cooper. In his five Leatherstocking novels The Pioneers,

The Land of the Mohicans, The Prairie, The Pathfinderand The Deerslayer

he creates the stereotypical pioneer which promotes the settlement process


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across the nation on the one hand and romantical escapes into the freedom

of the wilderness on the other hand (Burchell and Gray 148). Natty Bumppo,

the protagonist of the Leatherstocking novels, therefore, personifies the

people who are engaged in the frontier idea in all its obsessiveness, naivet,

hope and contradictions (West 146). As mentioned before, most of the

national heroes are men and one can hardly find female heroes among these

male dominated ideals. There are however exceptions like Sacajawae (guide

and interpreter on the Lewis and Clark expedition), Abigail Scott Duniway

(Womens activist) and also Narcissa Whitman the missionary (Armitage

1982, 2). All these women surfaced, even though they had done great work,

as individuals and are portrayed in a male-defined area (Walsh 242).

The American westward movement and settlement process and the

building of a new nation have always been described in terms of mens

accomplishments, with little attention to the creative achievements of

nineteenth-century western women (Moynihan, Armitage and Dichamp

1996, xiii). Even Frederick Jackson Turners frontier thesis, which was much

appreciated, challenged, and questioned, put women in their place as an

invisible helpmate or a shadowy figure (Walsh 241).

When Frederick Jackson Turner envisioned the settlement process

and taming of the wilderness, the only people he had in his mind were men

(Jeffrey xii). The envisioned process of civilization consisted of farmers,

miners, fur traders and trappers. His traditional history of the American

Frontier came from Turners male perspective (xii) a perspective where

women were hardly mentioned or were described as only passive actors.

Because most of the historians emphasized the romantic aspect of the

Frontier adventures and also paid much attention to the historical process in

becoming a nation there was no space for female affairs (Walsh 244). In fact

there was less or at least very little attention to the numerous records of

pioneering women. Consequently, most historians overlooked women

altogether even though they made up half of the population who crossed the

Mississippi (Jeffrey xii).

Since they made up such a large number of the population and since

they had been crucial to the settlement process, there had to be good


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reasons for not mentioning them and omitting all those important pioneering

experiences.

There are few reasons why women werent mentioned, but the basic

idea behind it was the attention of historical research was more on public

affairs than on womens personal experiences. Historians, therefore, were

more interested in finding out about the notable men of the nation who took

part in the historical process of becoming a nation. These men were

responsible for all the public documents historians were interested in.

Womens sources were often of a different kind; they described living

conditions, personal relationships and drew a picture of communities

(Moynihan, Armitage and Dichamp xii - xiii). Another reason for not

mentioning women was that they were simply seen as passive partners

depending on male pioneers. These passive partners were depicted mostly

as sad beings who endured all the hardships on the frontier. Consequently,

most historians found women not capable of coping with all the hardships of

frontier life and therefore not worth mentioning.

Until the late 1970s this pattern of describing the history of the

American frontier was common among most of the researches in history

the majority of (male) historians did not question the masculinity of the

frontier (Walsh 242 243). With the rise of womens history this pattern has

been altered gradually and female scholars try to re-write the history of the

American frontier with the help of the numerous pioneer womens accounts.

They found their answers in the relationships between public and personal

affairs that correlate (Moynihan, Armitage and Dichamp xiii). If one hopes to

get new information from womens accounts to rewrite history, one has to

know in what ways the records of women differed from the records of men.

Female accounts were not of a public source, whereas, as stated before,

male documents were public. The female sources are from a variety of

genres: we can find diaries, letter, memoirs, autobiographies, community

documents, and reminiscences and so on. All of them serve to give a good

and useful picture of pioneer womens experiences of the American frontier

(Jeffrey xv). With great vividness these women told stories of cowboys,

natural phenomena like blizzards, the seasons, floods, and fires.


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Brave women wrote about encounters with Indians, about thefts, their

hopes, fears, and dreams. They gave many details about every-day-life, their

families and homes, the hardships on the trail, their loneliness and isolation

and so on. In short they provided the whole picture of frontier life and history

in contrast to male (public) documents. (Stratton 1981, 12). As we find

women mentioned in a few sentences in male documents we can also find

men only mentioned on the periphery of the action in many of womens

narratives. This has two reasons: the exclusion of public affairs and secondly

women simply found their achievements and actions primary (Moynihan

,Armitage and Dichamp xviii). But there is one remarkable fact: These

women did not write about their experiences to get praise for their

achievements, nor did they want to play down their experiences and

hardships (Stratton 12). What these women wanted to demonstrate was that

they have the resilience and strength to resist the disintegrating forces of

frontier life, extend their own social role and create the Frontier to their

fondness (Jeffrey 24). The female role on the Frontier will be examined in the

next chapter.

II. Womens Role in the West

In order to understand womens experiences in the West we have to

understand the role of a woman in these days. This image was different at

the end of the settlement from the one in the beginning. Due to hardships,

social and physical conditions women had to adapt to the wilderness and

therefore a new image emerged the Frontier created a new woman

(Walsh 246).

In the beginning the idea of a womans place was basically shaped by

a Victorian understanding of a womans place, which was brought by pioneer

women from the East.

This Victorian understanding was based on a cult of domesticity

(Walsh 246), which meant that the right place for a woman was her home. In

this home she was responsible for creating an atmosphere of peace and

[uphold] the moral virtues of society (Schrems 1987, 56). Therefore womens


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West was especially hard for this genteel woman. Even though she tried to

change her ways she could not adjust to frontier life in the end. All attempts

to adjust to the rough life failed and ended up in unhappiness (Stoeltje 29).

Because the life in the West was so rough and hard more strength and

initiative were required (30). All this can be found in the second type the

helpmate. This type is characterized as strong and uncomplaining

(Armitage 1982, 3) and had no problems adapting to the conditions she was

exposed to on the frontier. This woman was both physically and emotionally

strong. She was able to be a partner to her husband, carry out her domestic

duties, handle difficult and dangerous situations, and all this without any

signs of complaint. (Stoeltje 32). The last type, the bad woman, is the one

who combined the glamour of the refined lady and the power of the helpmate

but did come to an end very fast. (Armitage 1982, 4).

Even though these are stereotypical depictions of women in the West at

least one of them contains enough truth to describe the modified image of the

frontier woman. The type which represents the frontier woman best is the

helpmate. Notwithstanding the fact that the definition of the helpmate did not

wholly match reality, it still gives us an idea of the image and role of a woman

in the West. This frontier woman became a woman, not just as a comrade for

her husband to assure his success, but also working in her own right. With

the help of the most important characteristics of the helpmate, the physical

and emotional strength to bear up under difficulties (Stoeltje 33) she

managed to fulfill all her domestic duties, be a partner to her husband and

also become independent. Even though many men didnt like the fact that

their wives worked in their own right, many women became entrepreneurs

and earned their living by running restaurants, laundries, school,

newspapers, boarding houses and so on. In this respect women found a

great advancement in their social role away from the Victorian image of a

womens place at home. Glenda Riley concludes the change from the

eastern Victorian woman to the woman of the frontier as follows: []

western women grew strong, assertive and confident. They realized that with

their talents and skills they might play some role in shaping their lives,

protecting themselves and their children, and determining their ultimatesurvival in the West (29).


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III. The Loneliness of Pioneer Women

To their ultimate survival in the West (29) belongs a common theme thatcan be found in many of the narratives of the women on the Frontier

loneliness. There was not just the uncertainty of an adventure to come that

burdened women, but there was also the anticipation of leaving their families

and homes and heading into the unknown. Most of these women did not

return and therefore suffered from the separation of their loved ones and the

isolation of the new world. All this began with the decision to leave their

home. One might think that these women did not take any part in the

decisions of their husbands and were simply dragged to go west but in fact

they played a major role in that. When their husbands left, it meant months or

even years of separation, which some women could not or were not willing to

bear. Therefore they felt the right to affect the decision-making (Jeffrey 29-

30; Moynihan, Armitage and Dichamp 5). One example was the pioneer

woman Mary Jane Hayden to take some interest in affairs when she heard

of her husbands plans to go to California without her. In her memoirs she

writes:

[] when I thought it was time for me to take some interest in affairs,and so put the question, what do you propose to do with me? Sendyou to your mother until I return, was his answer, which did not meetwith my approval, but I made no answer that time. I was very fond ofmy husband and was nearly broken-hearted at the thought ofseparation. [] I said We were married to live together, (he sayingYes), and I am willing to go with you to any part of Gods Foot Stoolwhere you think you can do the best, and under these circumstancesyou have no right to go where I cannot, and if you do, you need neverreturn for I shall look upon you as dead. (Hayden 1915)

It is obvious that this woman knew what she wanted and she didnt want to

stay at home alone without her beloved husband. She felt and acted

according to the proverb Homeis where the heart is and did not show any

hesitation in the decision to leave her home because she believed in their

family.

When the decision to leave was made and the day of leaving their

home came these women described the saying-goodbye-scenes very


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emotionally. Even the month before they left, preparing their departure, were

not preparing them for the actual day of leaving their homes. These moments

were very traumatic experiences not just for the ones leaving but also for

family and friends staying behind. Farewell-scenes were very sad and

gloomy because everybody involved experienced a sense of loss (Jeffrey

36). One woman writes about the evening before they left:

On the evening before, the whole family, including my mother, weregathered together in the parlor looking as if we were all going to ourgraves the next morning, there we sat in such gloom, that I could notendure it any longer, and I arose and announced that we would retirefor the night, and that we would not start tomorrow morning, not until

everybody could feel more cheerful. (qtd. in Jeffrey 36)

Even so these situations were difficult for everybody and parting did leave a

great ache in the hearts of our frontier women, there was no turning back.

Some of these women even compared it to death so that their emotional

emptiness therefore became symbolic as can be read in one of Lodisa

Frizzells reminiscences: [] it may be the last we hear from some or all of

them, and to those who start there can be no more solemn scene of

parting only at death (qtd. in Jeffrey 37). In Lodisas statement we find an

element, an anticipation, of something that enhanced the loneliness these

women suffered from on the Frontier. Many of them tried to keep close

contact (as close as possible in those times) to their family and friends back

home. In most cases this was futile. While they heard from their loved ones

several times in the beginning, the contact became less and less frequent

which intensified their emotional suffering and loneliness. Due to the lack of

contact many women became terribly homesick which becomes evident

through the vivid letters Jerusha Merill wrote to her brother. In her letters one

can easily recognize how much she relied on the contact to her family and to

hear all the particulars from home (Merill 1849) and how much her well-

being depended on the correspondence. She emphasized this several times

in her letters she wrote to her brother

I sometimes almost immagin myself with my friends again enjoying themany privileges you are blessed with but on reflection find it but avexation and vanity for boundless waters and high mountains widely


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separate us from each other I would be much delighted to hear allparticulars from my friends [sic.] (Merill 1849).

We can see how Jerusha fondly looks back on her past, remembering her

loved ones and wishing for her old home. She does this again in a letter twoyears later when she writes: I often think of the good apples and things t hat

make the longer winter evenings pass away so pleasantly and would like an

old fashion sleigh ride again (Merill 1851). This woman, even though she

was amazed by all the changes, suffered great homesickness, which was

intensified by the fact that the contact to her family became less and less

frequent. In one of her letters she writes I begin to think out of sight out of

mind for no one has taken the trouble to write (Merill 1849).Homesickness was a great topic in most of the pioneer womens lives;

therefore we can find many expressions of homesickness in many of the

pioneer womens accounts. Another example of that is Annie Green, when

she explicitly wrote in her book that to say that I was homesick, discouraged

and lonely, is but a faint description of my feelings (Green, 1887 8).

Also, what compounded the loneliness for these women was not only

were they separated from their families in the East, but there was isolation in

the West. Because of the long distances between the neighbors it was

difficult to keep in touch with others on the Frontier, which added isolation

and loneliness. In the memoirs about her familys life on the Frontier Mrs.

Van Court writes about the isolation and describes the location of their house

This house was on a state road, the nearest neighbor a half a mile away, not

a house in sight (Van Court 1914 5). Another women, Anne Bingham,

corroborates the isolated situation of prairie life: There was not a tree nearer

than the little creek, and our nearest neighbor lived in a ravine out of sight

about a half mile away. We were as much isolated as if we were miles from a

neighbor, and not a dwelling in sight (qtd. in Stratton 86).

For some women this isolation was especially hard to bear and their

emotional well-being suffered. Their despair was expressed in many different

ways: The pioneer woman Allena A. Clark had an interesting way of coping

with lonely days. When she felt especially lonely she used to make friends

with the familys sheep. In those days she went to the sheep and just lay

down in the midst of them to feel their company. Another woman appears in


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the autobiography of Mary Furguson Darrah. When she was told that her

husband had to go for wood she had the chance to go with him. When they

arrived in the wood she hysterically hugged a tree because she was so

happy to see it (Stratton 88).

Mrs. Clark tried to ease her emotional suffering with the help of the

sheeps company, while other women found abatement in real company i.e.

the company of other pioneering women. Women built a network of friends

on the Frontier in order to sustain their hardships. These networks were

essential for most of the women, not just because they were not alone

anymore but they could also share experiences and emotions. Therefore did

women who were new to frontier life try to establish new ties with other

women as soon as possible. These new ties were characterized by frequent

visits of other pioneering women who made a special point in visiting one

another. This new network become something like a cure and remedy from

all the hardships of frontier life. Many women took not only the opportunity to

share experiences, but also developed long lasting friendships, which made

many of them feel so much better (Jeffrey 75). It was not just the emotional

burden that was eased by the friendships, but also did the female

companionships help to relieve the great burden of the work many women

had to do. They helped out cooking, sewing, helped with the child care and

therefore somehow shared their creative skills as well (Jeffrey 86). The

network of friends and visitors opened up a new aspect for frontier women,

which helped them to cope with the loneliness. This was the aspect of

hospitality, which a great number of women developed throughout the time.

Visitors were so rare so they did everything to keep them there and to make

them feel comfortable so that they would come back. Most women were so

happy when they had company that they gave everything they had in order to

make their guest feel at home. These elaborate codes of hospitality helped

to balance the isolation on the frontier (Moynihan, Armitage and Dichamp

218).

The people on the frontier also used every opportunity to gather and

make friends in order to socialize and therefore fight loneliness. They valued

the time when they sat together and told each other stories, sang and atetogether. Many of the occasions were picnics, dances, holidays like the


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Fourth of July celebration. Also weddings gave them the perfect opportunities

to establish new social ties and to just let them forget about their lonely days

(Stratton 129 135). Women also found companionship in many of the

womens groups that evolved in the course of time and the development of

communities. Because these were groups of various kinds, many women

found not just great emotional support but also help in many aspects within

the network of these groups (Armitage 1982, 8).

Another strategy of coping with the loneliness of frontier life was to

maintain old, and especially domestic structures, as much as possible. They

literally tried to [reproduce] aspects of the world they left behind. Therefore

did many women dress the way the used to dress like they did in the East

and also tried to make their homes look like the ones they left behind.

Because of this reproduction, even though it was impossible to keep their old

world, it gave women the courage to endure all those hardships and

overcome the isolation (Jeffrey 41- 42). Speaking of strategies for coping with

loneliness, one outstanding woman should be mentioned the missionary

Narcissa Whitman. She went to the West with her husband Marcus Whitman.

In the beginning she was all exited about the trip and the new experiences

but as the years went by she was also exposed to loneliness. The birth of her

only child Alice was a remedy for that as Narcissa herself stated oh how

many melancholy hours she has saved me, while living here alone so long,

especially when her father is gone for so many days together (Thompson

1963, 18 - 20). The fact that her only child died very soon and her husband

had to leave her alone many times brought back and enhanced the feeling of

loneliness. Hence she took the opportunity to cure her pain and became a

mother to eleven children who came from mountain men or settlers who died

on the trip west. The adoption of the children filled the gap that her little

daughter Alice left and did help her forget the loneliness of empty arms

(20). Supposedly it was not just her religious belief and her great heart but

also her lonely circumstances that led her in the decision of adopting these

children. That was why, after a while, her letters showed a renewed hope

and pleasure in life (22).


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IV. Social Disorder and Pioneer Women as Civilizing

Agents

During the time of the settlement process on the American Frontier was

much room for violence and social disorder. Because there were no

institutions or legal mechanisms counteracting all the disorders in many

frontier settlements, social disorder became a huge problem which increased

more and more in the course of cities arising and growing bigger. (Jeffrey

112). Even in the early days of the Frontier the foundation of social life was

far from being civilized in any regards. It was normal for frontier towns tohave gunmen shooting, gamblers wasting all their money, and the local

saloons providing men with liquor so that drunken cowboys were not a rare

picture (Stratton 199). Women very often experienced violent scenes from

close proximity. Nat Collins remembers:

I remember distinctly an incident, which will serve to illustrate theprevailing state of affairs at this time. Walking along the main street ofthe town, I was about to pass one of the large tents in which gamblingwas being carried on when suddenly a quarrel rose within. In far lesstime than I employ in writing this brief sketch of the event, the sharpreports of the revolvers of the gamblers were ringing through the streetin rapid succession. The fight was at its height in almost an instant, and,greatly startled, I turned to retrace my steps. As I did so a stray bulletpierced my dress and clothing and striking my right limb just above theknee [] The wound, as a matter of course, was but a slight one, andsoon healed, but the sensation I felt the leaden missile burns its waythrough my flesh was not of a very pleasant nature. Had I been six

inches farther ahead I would have been badly wounded (Collins 1911,20 - 21).

Furthermore, she remembers that murderers, desperadoes and gamblers

were almost daily being shot (Collins 21). This short extract of her letters

reveals how violence was a steady companion to frontier life and that

women very often were caught in the crossfire. The reminiscence of another

pioneer woman, Elizabeth Ann Coonc, corroborates the state of affairs The

place was full of the toughest men I ever saw; every Sunday they would getdrunk, quarrel and shoot up the town (Coonc 1917, 19). Not just violence


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itself was a problem but also the huge consumption of alcohol in the saloons

magnified the violence problem. During the time of the gold rush many

people overran the country, and drinking was an apparent problem. In most

mining camps were the saloons the center of gravity where men

transformed into wild animals. Mrs. Whipple- Haslam describes it in the

following terms:

Selling vile whiskey to vile men can have only one result. The men hadalready been inoculated with the virus of the evil. They would drink andonly taper off when tankage facilities failed. Whiskey createdantagonisms, and their faces would remind one of a personified day ofjudgment, untempered by mercy. Then they were ready of anything

robbery or murder, but above all they loved to fight (Whipple- Haslam1925,15).

She assesses the state of affairs at that time as follows Human life was not

valued; it must demand a life for a life (Whipple- Haslam 14). Drinking

presented a great threat to social values and order. Not only the drinking was

a thorn in the flesh for frontier women but also the apparent disorder which

pioneer women eagerly tried to turn into a civilized society. It was a common

notion among 19th

century people that men were simply not capable ofturning the wilderness into a real civilization (Jeffrey 118). And because men

and women had a different idea of what a community meant, this task had to

be theirs. Women were believed to be more moral than man and therefore

the only chance in becoming a civilized society. They were commonly seen

as shapers and civilizers of society and as an efficient remedy for [the]

great evils which were experienced in the state of social disorder. Women

were mostly attributed with only positive characteristics and therefore being [missionaries] of virtue, morality, happiness, and peace to a circle of

careworn, troubled, and [] demoralized men (Jeffrey 109). As a

consequence women were labeled as civilizing agents (Jabour 264).

The frontier women took their mission as civilizing agents very

seriously and immediately began civilizing the Frontier in many areas of

social life i.e. schoolwork, community work, church, culture etc.

As the understanding for the need of a better education not just for

themselves, but also for the development of the community grew, settlers

tried to establish schools. Because the resources were limited there were few


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schools. It was mostly women, who initiated the educational process and

opened schools (Stratton 157). These schools were usually very simple and

small and were often situated in the homes of the women. Even though the

teaching task can be seen as a broadening of the female role it gave women

the opportunity to practice their moral influence and helped to promote

cultural standards (Jeffrey 88 89). School teaching was an important pillar

for the civilizing mission pioneer women were assigned with. Here again it

was the conviction of a womans moral superiority, which was deeply woven

into the teaching task. Hence, schools produced moral and virtuous citizens

of an Eastern ideal and therefore civilize[d] people living in frontier

communities (Schrems 63).

It was women who started the process in forming a church in a time

when it was hard to bring all the members of a community together because

they were scattered. And again, women were not just morally superior but

they also remembered their religious duties better than men. As

missionaries they helped spreading the faith and a regular worship.

Furthermore they helped to establish churches, search for ministers and

organize church events (Jeffrey 95 97). They organized the church

community, taught in Sunday schools and also organized fundraisers to

provide the churches with liturgical material. The common faith and also the

church, therefore, were a useful device in womens civilizing mission and

worked as a social incitement.

Another example of their mission was the contribution in womens

groups and associations. Due to the social disorder, these groups were

essential in bringing advancement to society and progress in community

building. Countless groups for womens suffrage, schools, religion and

culture were formed by and for women and covered a wide range of

activities. In this regard one group stands out. The Womens Christian

Temperance Union (WCTU) served as the perfect representations of the

mission frontier women were on to civilize the Frontier. The WCTU formed on

order to prohibit the use of liquor or at least get it under control. As pointed

out before, drinking was a very big problem and a hurdle for the civilizing

process. This problem grew even bigger as distilling techniques improvedand therefore the consumption of hard liquor increased, and taxes were


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eliminated. This became a serious social problem which required immediate

action and the boosting of public drinking by saloons and free lunches made

this task even harder. Women tried to prevent people from drinking with the

help of moral values and tried to persuade drinkers and pledge abstinence.

They led prohibition campaigns and struggled with their male opposition but

they also had great success. Newspaper articles, prayer meetings, petitions,

and also saloon hauntings were tactics of these activist women. (Jeffrey 184

187). The WCTU was not only engaged in preventive work but also in

public education, relieving prostitutes and they also went into politics in the

endeavor of getting a vote for women (Armitage 1982, 8).

This outline describing the efforts women made on the frontier gives a

good insight of their task as civilizing agents. What made these women so

special was that they had the resilience and strength and they gave their

youth, health, courage and the very best of their lives to the civilization of

these great western plains, at a cost no one ever will be able to reckon. (qtd.

in Stratton 267).


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V. Conclusion

In the context of this work we learned about how a male myth of theAmerican Frontier was built throughout time and that women were only

appearing on the periphery instead of being active actors. It also became

clear that the Frontier changed women and that their role was different from

the role women had in the East. We heard the voices of women talking about

intimate topics and about their loneliness and learned how they suffered

under the migration to the West. Therefore we got an insight in the minds and

souls of these women. Another great topic was the social disorder of the

Frontier and an outline of the different missions in the course of the higher

mission of civilization.

This is an outline of what women did on the Frontier and there is likely

much more that can be explored like, for example, whether the frontier

woman was a role model for the modern woman or how sex roles developed

through the frontier experience.

By and large it can be said that these outstanding women even though

they had ambivalent feelings about what they could expect, they never gave

up or complained. They never rejected their civilizing mission or their tasks;

instead they always gave their best and developed numerous strategies to

make the Frontier theirs.


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Works Cited

Armitage Sue. Western Women: Beginning to Come into Focus The

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Burchell, R.A. and Gray R.J. The Frontier West. Introduction to AmericanStudies. 2nd ed. Ed. Malcom Bradbury and Howard Temperley. Londonand New York: Longman 1992.

Collins, Nat. The Cattle Queen of Montana. Spokane: Dyer Printing Col,1991.

Coonc, Elizabeth Ann. Reminiscences of a Pioneer Woman. TheWashington Historical Quarterly 8 (1917): 14 21.

Green. A. M. Sixteen Days in the Great American Desert or the Trials andTriumphs of a Frontier Life. Titusville: Frank W. Truedell, 1887.

Hahn, Andr. Family, Frontier and American Dream. Darstellung und Kritiknationaler Mythen im amerikanischen Drama des 20. Jahrhunderts. Trier:Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2008.

Hayden, Mary Jane. Pioneer Days. San Jose: Murgottens, 1915.

Jabour, Anya. The Privations & Hardships of a New Country: SouthernWomen and Southern Hospitality The Florida Historical Quarterly75(1997): 259 275.

Jeffrey, Julie Roy. Frontier Women: The Trans-Mississippi West 1840-1880.New York: Hill and Wang, 1983.

Merill, Jerusha to Selden Deming. 6 Mar. and 28 Oct. 1849, and 8 Jan. 1851.

Western Americana Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and ManuscriptLibrary, Yale University.

Moynihan, Ruth B., Armitage Susan, and Dichamp Christiane Fischer, eds.So Much to Be Done: Women Settlers on the Mining and RanchingFrontier. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1996.

Ridge, Martin. The Significance of Frederick Jackson Turners FrontierThesis The Magazine of Western History41 (1991): 2 13.

Riley, Glenda. Frontierswomens Changing Views of Indians in the Trans-

Mississippi West The Magazine of Western History34 (1984): 20 35.


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Schrems, Suzanne H. Teaching on the Western Frontier: AcceptableOccupation for Nineteenth Century Women The Magazine of WesternHistory37 (1987): 54 63.

Stoeltje, Beverly J. A Helpmate for Man Indeed: The Image of the Frontier

Woman The Journal of American Folklore88 (1975): 22 41.

Strattron, Joanna L. Pioneer Women: Voices from the Kansas Frontier. NewYork: Touchstone, 1982.

Thompson, Erwin N. Narcissa Whitman: Woman, Wife, Mother, MissionaryThe Magazine of Western History13 (1963):15 27.

Van Court, E. A. Reminiscences. 1914 (Western Americana Collection,Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University).

Walsh, Margaret. Womens Place in the American Frontier Journal ofAmerican Studies29 (1995): 241 255.

West, Elliott. American Frontier. The Oxford History of The American West.Ed. Clyde A. Millner, Carol A. OConnor and Martha A. Sandweiss. NewYork and Oxford: OUP, 1994.

Whipple- Haslam, Lee. Early days in California: scenes and events of the 50sas I remember them. Jamestown: Mother Lodge Magnet, 1925.

Documents

Frontier Women Seminararbeit FINAL