Page 244 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

C H APTER S I X

as filthy thatched dwellings. According to them, they stayed in accom­
modations so miserable and f u ll of stench that they were, according to
one, "obliged to hold our noses and have cologne to go to sleep by." 13 8
In 1 8 6 I Julia T w ist denigrated shacks and larger buildings, saying they

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were "occupied by a race of beings hardly fit to be classed as human." 139
Apparently, women travelers across Panama expressed great inter­
est in native peoples, which Panama's natives, like American Indians,
W
returned. o men were disconcerted by natives who invaded hotels and
other buildings to stand and stare at them "in perf e ct astonishment."140
One woman was annoyed at Panamanians who yelled at her as she passed
by; she thought them "frightful in the extreme."141
White women's judgments were typically unfavorable. W o men
were harsh, cruel, and spiteful as they described the people who made
their trip possible by toting their luggage, leading their mules, piloting
their canoes, carrying them on their backs f r om steamers to shore, and
performing other services. Sarah Brooks demonstrated a common atti­
tude toward Panamanians when she stated that they were "desperately
ugly in looks" and "proved equally so in character."142
Other women were more specific, especially in accusing natives of
being greedy and dishonest. 143 One woman believed that they hid mules
and bribed boatmen "in order to secure as many pieces of money as
possible" f r om emigrants. T o her, Panamanians were crafty yet
ignorant. 144 It did not occur to her that natives seeing their homeland
invaded by whites might resist, as well as wondering how they could
profit fr om the situation. An 1849 traveler revealed that Panamanians
understood the idea of profiting f r om travelers and tourists. Natives
were, she said, "simple, inoffensive people" who "understand perfectly
the getting of dimes f r om the Americans."145 Another traveler of the
same year insisted that the natives "extort all they can fr om the
travelers." 146
Still other women were upset by what they considered the tem­
peramental nature of Panamanians. The white traveler Jessie Benton
Fremont portrayed them as "naked, screaming, barbarous" people. May
Ann Harris Meredith thought the "natives were so impetuous and
excitable that it was almost impossible to do anything with them." At
another point, Meredith declared that "they almost make me crazy." 147