Page 159 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

FRONT I E R P R O C E S S : H U MAN I Z I N G

they were capable o f responding t o f a ir treatment by whites. For
instance, some said that respect, courtesy, f r iendliness, and willingness to
share f o od with the Indians were f a ctors guaranteeing the safe passage
of their party.125 Apparently, these women viewed Indians as human
beings with qualities similar to whites. Lavinia Porter argued f o r such
an approach: "Evidently our hospitality and courteous treatment won
their hearts, f o r they showed no signs of hostility to us." Porter added
that the Indians' "general demeanor . . . inspired us with a confidence
which seemed to sanction our presence in their midst."126
Moreover, some women blamed white men, rather than Indians,
f o r "troubles." In their view, whites f r equently treated Indians in an
unfair or exploitive manner. Showing her obvious sympathy fo r Indians,
Mary Hopping bitterly called two men, who had paid an Indian coun­
terfeit money f o r moccasins, "smarties."127 Similarly, Lavinia Porter
claimed that she remonstrated in vain with the men in her party who
teased and played tricks on Indians. l28 In another instance, Pauline
W o nderly empathized with displaced natives by criticizing male emi­
grants who refused to pay a "reasonable" toll to those who had con­
structed a bridge across the Elk Horn River. In the ensuing fight, eleven
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Indians were killed. Later parties, o nderly prophesied, would pay f o r
the "meanness of the men of that train." White women believed that
selling guns and ammunition to Indians was another offense f o r which
later parties of emigrants and settlers would suffer. 129
Evidently, women were willing and able to express positive f e elings
toward American Indians. They recognized that many Indians were
indeed impressive in stature and presence. Prevailing beliefs about
women's physical weakness seemed to encourage them to look f o r
Indians' benign rather than savage qualities. Although women's supposed
moral powers encouraged them to see Indians as depraved beings in
need of reform and rehabilitation, women's physical weakness led them
to seek out qualities of goodness and nobility. The ambivalence of many
women toward Indians, which resulted f r om such dualistic thinking, was
illustrated by Ada V o gdes, an army wife at Fort Laramie during the late
1 8 60s. She filled her journal with the expression "frightened to death."
She was awakened by imaginary Indian whoops during the night, mis­
took two drunken cooks f o r an uprising, and repeatedly declined her

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