Page 103 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

-- Chapter Three --

FRONTIER PROCESS: VILIFYING
AMERICAN INDIANS

For migrating women, the switch f r om absorbing f r ontier philosophy
to putting into effect fr ontier process occurred as they and their group
moved toward a trailhead. For New Englanders, this might be St. Louis,
Missouri, or Kanesville (today Council Bluffs), Iowa. For those who
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crossed the Isthmus of Panama, New o rk City was the takeoff point.
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For Canadians, it might be o ronto in the East or a ncouver in the e st,
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and f o r Europeans a wide variety of port cities. I Whether they traveled
during the nineteenth century or the early twentieth, these women were
well versed in f r ontier ideology, notably regarding American Indians. As
a consequence of their long exposure to American and European think­
ing about the contradictory nature of American Indians, most wester­
ing women struck out f o r the trans-Mississippi West with their minds
conjuring apparitions of inferior native peoples who were hostile,
vicious, and evil, interspersed with enigmatic visions of superior native
beings who were friendly, kind, and courageous.
Because the likeness of the "bad" Indian was usually dominant, most
f e male migrants' expectations tended to be negative rather than positive.
When they set f o ot on the trail, their nerves were taut with fe arful
anticipation; they were ready f o r the worst of f a tes at the hands of
American Indians. When they reached the end of their journey, most
were considerably more savvy, but not entirely cleansed of their

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