Women of the West
by Cathy Luchetti, Carol Olwell
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Description
A myth-shattering look at the women who helped to settle the West, told through their own words and illustrated with 150 period photographs. Through these photos, plus diaries, memoirs, letters, and journals, Women of the West introduces 11 real frontier women whose words combine to re-create a place and time when resourcefulness and courage were demanded of everyone. This is American history, not as it was romanticized, but as it was lived. 150 period photographs.Tags
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Member Reviews
Women of the West tells the stories of women who travelled across America in the 1800s to new lives in the West. This is a great book. I think what I like most about it is the breadth of experience that Luchetti has included - white women, black women, Indian women, European women, rich women, poor women, mothers, educators, business women, religious women. The sources used are mainly diaries, memoirs and letters which give vivid, personal accounts of the terrible hardships that many of these women experienced, the monotony of rural life, the strength they drew from their beliefs and the opportunitites that some of them were able to take.
The writings are accompanied by some wonderful photographs, not only of the writers themselves but show more also of the landscapes and communities of the West. show less
The writings are accompanied by some wonderful photographs, not only of the writers themselves but show more also of the landscapes and communities of the West. show less
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Author Information
11 Works 573 Members
Cathy Luchetti has written many award-winning books, including "Women of the West", "Home on the Range" (winner of the James Beard Award), & "Medicine Women". (Bowker Author Biography)
4 Works 410 Members
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Epigraph
- Work is love made visible.
- Dedication
- To those women of the West whose stories will never be told.
- First words
- [Preface] From my early years in Texas, I remember stories of the old Goodnight-Loving cattle trail which ran north, along the outskirts of town.
[Notes on the Photographs] My great-grandmother Zillah Player Riser was born shortly after her mother crossed the Platte River in 1851. Some family accounts even suggested it was "several minutes" after the crossing.
[Notes on the Editing] Each woman included in this book has a distinct literary style influenced by her education, profession, ethnic background, and her general outlook on life.
[Introduction] Myth and misunderstanding spring from the American frontier as readily as rye grass from sod, and--like the wiry grass--seem as difficult to weed out and discard.
[Minority Women] The hardships, customs, and expectations of the while immigrants to the West in the 1800s have been well documented. The women's individual stories were not well known, but they lived, in many cases, strong... (show all) and dramatic lives, raised their children with courage and direction, and in general did the best they could with what was at hand. But in tracing the path of women throughout the West, it would be impossible to ignore the lives of the Indian women who first aid claim to the spirit if not the actual acreage of the West.
Mary Richardson was born on a farm near West Baldwin, Maine, on April 11, 1811. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)[Preface] A great granddaughters of men and women pioneers, it has been our honor and oy to bring these stories to light.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)[Notes on the Photographs] To thoroughly illustrate the life of women in the West we would need to include material from the lumber camps, railroads and mines, military posts and frontier towns, for women were witnesses to and participants in all aspects of life in the West. We felt this was a scope too great for one book, and so, in selecting the photographs we chose to concentrate on the more quiet and unobtrusive--though no less important--side of life, to show how had these women worked, and how much they gave.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)[Notes on the Editing] It is a meagre offering, considering the vastness of their impact and the large numbers in their population, but until more primary information is available, it will have to do.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)[Introduction] Most importantly, she was part of a time in which women were beginning to discover, little by little, the unexplored realms of their own talents--finding out what they could contribute to the world.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)[Minority Women] They managed to make light of their hardships, and--like Kazuko Hayashi--even learned to be matter-of-fact about the challenges of this land. When she left Japan to come here, her father-in-law--in anticipation of her possible failure--handed her a well-polished sword, with the advice that "if things don't go well, commit harakiri with it."
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)In 1926, Elinore was seriously injured when a covey of quail scattered in front of her horses, causing them to bolt and her to fall beneath the hay mower she had been driving. She never really recovered from those injuries, and died in 1933.
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, Sexuality and Gender Studies, Art & Design
- DDC/MDS
- 305.4 — Society, Government, and Culture Social sciences, sociology & anthropology Social group - Age, Gender, Ethnicity Women
- LCC
- HQ1438 .W45 .L8 — Social sciences The family. Marriage, Women and Sexuality The Family. Marriage. Women Women. Feminism
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 315
- Popularity
- 100,936
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.42)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 1
