Frontier Women Does Hollywood accurately portray women in the Wild West? By Steve Hailes
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Steve Hailes is our expert columnist on pioneer
women in the days of the early west. He is also a well-known novelist who
writes adventure/romance novels about women in the wild west. His novelsinclude,
'The Quicksilver Kid' 'Gila Bend Showdown' and 'Monterey Deathsong.' Steve
can be contacted at
shaitwrite@aol.com. This month, he
discusses how recent Hollywood movies portray an unrealistic picture of what
women were really like in the pioneer days.
HOW ABOUT THE MOVIES? Recent "western" movies involving women, such as "Bad Girls" paint a totally unrealistic picture of women in the early west. Women did not become men by strapping on pistols. Women won the west in their own way, not in the same way as the men. To paste today's "liberated" woman philosophy on a woman of the west is totally incorrect and foolish. Most women were daughters, wives or mothers in a family of husbands and brothers. They bore their children and supported their families in a way only women can do. Often more courage and bravery was demanded of them than of the men around them. To understand the situation, review a few facts: * The Married Woman's Property Act of 1860 secured for married women, the right to hold property, the right to earn and keep wages, and the right to petition and obtain custody of children in case of divorce. *Women could not vote until the 20th century. *And even though women could not vote until 1920 (when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified), they were still active in politics. Take for example, Jesse Benton Fremont, the husband of John Charles Fremont. WOMAN MEETS BEAR Anita de los Aguentos is a Californio woman. Californios were the Mexican people living in California (Alta California it was called) when the area was annexed by the United States at the end of the Mexican War with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in February, 1848. Anita lived on a large rancho with her parents and her younger brother, Roberto. One afternoon, she rode swiftly across the Salinas Valley far from her rancho, as she did often. Suddenly, her horse stumbled in a rodent hole and she was hurled to the ground. When she caught her breath, she found she had broken her leg and her horse had run off. She staggered to a shallow arroyo where a small stream trickled and bathed the bloody head wound she had also received. Unfortunately for her, the same source of water attracted a large grizzly bear. The last of subspecies Californicus of Ursus Arctos Horribilis, the magnificent California grizzly was killed in 1921 in Tulare County, California. However, in the 1840's these magnificent animals were one of the dominant species of predators roaming the hills and valleys of California. Drawing the small, five inch blade she always carried in her boot, she faced the towering, growling menace. Suddenly, movement at the corner of her vision caught her attention. Above her, on the edge of the arroyo stood a tall man, dressed in buckskin with two large pistols on his hips, looking down at her. Though he was a handsome man, he was a white-skinned Anglo. She had seen many since gold had been discovered a short time ago. She was not sure which danger was greater, the Anglo or the GrizzlyÉ Anita de los Aguentos never lived, although she could have. She is a fictional character in my novel, Moneterey Deathsong, to be published soon by Temple Publishing Group. (It's available right now on audio tape&emdash;look it up on amazon.com.) (By the way, she decides the tall Anglo is a safer bet than the bear, although she does try to kill him, the man, not the bear.) That's all for the Frontier Woman until next time. Comments, suggestions, requests are welcome.Write me at shaitwrite@aol.com. About the author: Steve Hailes is a Western adventure novelist. He often writes about women in the early days of the American wild west. He can be contacted at shaitwrite@aol.com. Some of his novels include: *The Quicksilver Kid (available currently on audio tape from amazon.com) *Gila Bend Showdown (available currently on audio tape from amazon.com) * Monterey Deathsong (available currently on audio tape from amazon.com) * Trouble in Mariposa (available soon on audio tape from amazon.com) *Santa Lucia Secrets (available soon on audio tape from amazon.com) * West of Yuma (available in 1999 on audio tape from amazon.com)
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