Page 173 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

F R O N T I E R P R O C E S S : H U MAN IZING

candidate as fr iend and supporter of people she thought of as dreaded
enemies. Y e t she became f r iendly with the hated and f e ared warrior,
Red Cloud. When Red Cloud brought his men into the f o rt f o r peace
negotiations, she judged them to be "young bold & dashing." She con­
.
cluded that, "A more exciting day . . I never experienced . . . It was a
.
grand sight." She also entertained and traded with American Indians.
She even left the f o rt f o r outings and horseback rides that she "en j oyed
very much." 2 02
Naturally, not all women changed their minds about themselves or
American Indians. Some women hardly mentioned Indians. In other
cases, such sources as a letter or half-kept diary are too truncated to indi­
cate any change in attitudes. 2 03 Moreover, some white women did not
like Native Americans. For example, during the 1840s, the Iowan Susan
Willeford declared that although her Indian neighbors were "peaceful,"
they "were seldom if ever very welcome neighbors." During the f o l­
lowing decade, the Californian Mary Staples and the Oregonian
Caroline Budlong had ample opportunity to revise their views of them­
selves and to get acquainted with the many native peoples who lived
around them. Y e t these women continued to think that Indians were
2
nothing more than cruel, lazy, and unreliable beggars. 04
Moreover, f a ctors besides gender affected women's thinking about
Indians. Place of origin, previous contact with Indians, age, marital status,
ethnicity, race, religion, and personality also affected women's views.
The point is, however, that numerous white women demonstrated that
social constructs were not absolute. These women developed an ability
to replace prejudice with warmth, sympathy, and understanding. As
these women grew more realistic and confident about their roles, con­
tributions, and strengths, they were more secure and sympathetic in their
relations with American Indians. They were not beleaguered fr ontiers­
women living in terror of marauding and savage Indians. Nor were they
routinely at odds with natives or attacked and debauched by them.
If"rape, pillage, and burn" is not a key phrase in understanding rela­
tions between white women and American Indians in the early trans­
Mississippi W e st, then what is it? If women did not always play the white
fe male victim, what were their dealings like with American Indians? Did
white men undergo a similar adaptation? Or did gender matter?