Page 12 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

INTRODUCTION

men, the eyes of the majority remained clouded by colonialist and
white-supremacist sentiments.
These women had difficulty reconciling their firsthand observa­
tions with their long internalized values. Most recognized that the tales
of primitive and savage Indians appearing in dime novels, in "penny
dreadfuls" or captivity narratives, and in newspaper reports were more
hyperbole than truth. The more seasoned among them disdained the
bombastic style of such authors as the one who wrote in 1875: "The
very sight of Indians were terrible to many women on the frontier. The
savages could not be looked upon without calling to mind the horrid
work of the tomahawk and the scalping-knife-the desolated home and
the butchered relatives."sYet these women clung to "white" beliefs and
teachings that had often begun in early childhood, and caused them to
remain always slightly aloof from Indians. Although Anglo women often
got closer to American Indian men, women, and children than did Anglo
men, the haze of colonialism continued to obscure their view when­
ever and wherever they ventured on the western f r ontier-along a
plethora of trails, in temporary camps, and in raw settlements.
Unfortunately, resources relating to Native Americans are not abun­
dant. Because they had no written languages, documents are f e w.
Unsurprisingly, Indians have guarded their oral traditions f r om Anglos,
often including scholars. When documents or transcripts existed, they
are too often ignored by Anglos who write histories and establish
archives. Thus, Indians were f r equently absent from a society's memory
and identity. Some evidence of the subaltern voice is f o und, however,
in the writings of white women. When a woman described Native
Americans as lazy, f e lonious, or slow to adopt white teachings, she
described people who showed their discontent by working slowly,
appropriating f o od and other goods to supplement their inadequate
wages, and took fr om Anglos only what they f o und to be meaningful. 9
When these or other sources are available, the perspectives of Native
Americans are included here.
Of course, other types of people inhabited the W e st as well. Female
migrants included Hispanas, African Americans, Asians, and Mormons,
or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who
often f o und themselves caught between Anglos and Indians. IO In

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