Stories of westward expansion typically revolve around colorful characters such as George Donner, Brigham Young, and George Custer with little or no mention of the women who accompanied them-women like Emmeline B. Wells and Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe. Yet they played pivotal roles in the successful settlement of the western United States, and the journals these women kept provide an intimate and unique view into life on the American frontier.
These materials, which include photographs, personal journal entries, and travel guides published during the mid-nineteenth century, document some of the pioneer women who helped settle the western United States. Using these documents, CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:
What hardships did these women face that would have been unique to female pioneers?
How did life on the trail affect the pioneer family?
In what ways did these women contribute to the survival of the pioneer groups to which they belonged?
In what ways were the lives of these women similar to their Native American counterparts?
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Men, women and children outside a log cabin gathered around a small casket placed on a cloth covered bench. 1900-1909.
Oxen pulling a grain drill in pioneer days : a welcome break in a long day, stopping for lunch and a chat with mom and the youngsters. more...
Pioneering family in the Klondike, Alaska. Man, his Alaskan Indian wife & their children, in parkas, heavy coats and mukluks. c1898.
Required Reading:
Read: Bathsheba W. Bigler Smith, "Diary," 1847 and 1873.
Read: "The Latter-Day Saints' Emigrant's Guide." Published by William Clayton in St. Louis in 1848.
Read: The Chrisman Sisters on a claim in Goheen settlement on Lieban (Lillian) Creek, Custer County
Read: Smith, Bathsheba W. Bigler. Diary, 1847 and 1873.
Read: The Shirley letters from California mines in 1851-52; being a series of twenty-three letters from Dame Shirley (Mrs. Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe) to her sister in Massachusetts, and now reprinted from the Pioneer magazine of 1854-55; with synopses of the letters, a foreword, and many typographical and other corrections and emendations, by Thomas C. Russell; together with "An appreciation" by Mrs. M.V.T. Lawrence.
Comment: The "Little Sure Shot" or "The Wild West," exhibition of rifle shooting, starring Annie Oakley. Date: Filmed November 1, 1894, in Edison's Black Maria studio.
