If you have a budding historian or feminist on your hands who is looking for a good read, she’ll love “Women of the Frontier,” by Brandon Marie Miller.
It’s pretty rare these days to spend your entire childhood in one place, since Americans move up to 14 times in a lifetime. So imagine moving across the country on foot, leaving everything you love behind, carrying your belongings — and sometimes your children — on your back.
In “Women of the Frontier,” you’ll see what it was like.
Nearly 200 years ago, when the United States was hit by economic depression, Americans began looking for a ray of hope. They’d been reading the accounts of traders, trappers, and adventurers in the West and so, beginning around 1841, many people packed their belongings in wagons and carts and headed to California, Oregon, and parts west of the Mississippi River.
Most of them were penniless, but they were optimistic. The newly expanded U.S. held opportunity and a chance at a new life. Most were single men, but a relatively small handful were women.
For the women, the decision to emigrate was usually made by their husbands, and while wives eagerly anticipated the possibility of better lives, they hated leaving their homes, possessions, and families — maybe forever.
Their trip usually began with great excitement that quickly soured. River crossings were dangerous, Native Americans weren’t always friendly, the heat was unbearable, and walking for hours each day sapped a person’s energy.
And yet, there were advantages to being a woman on the frontier.
Women were allowed to own land long before they were allowed to vote. Since feminine company was scarce, women often had their choice of men, and divorce was easily attainable. Women owned businesses, wore pants, escaped slavery, and found work.
Edge of my seat! That’s where I was while reading this book.
Miller packs it with excitement, heartbreak, and adventure, as well as the blunt truth and painful realities, and she’s very adept at making the narrative personal. It’s hard to read what’s here without imagining yourself in the shoes of our foremothers.
While this book is meant for readers ages 12 and up, I absolutely think adults of any age will enjoy it, too.
“Women of the Frontier” by Brandon Marie Miller [246 pages, 2013, $19.95].
Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was 3 years old, and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill with two dogs and 12,000 books.
