Page 74 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

CHAPT E R Two

do not doubt that these young American women had amassed," he
continued, "in the education of their early years, that inward strength
which they displayed under these circumstances."33 Thus did de
T o cqueville pronounce, if not the last word, a sensible one on this rather
superficial concern.
Just as perfunctory was the question of western women's dress, in
which European observers also exhibited great interest. They were gen­
erally pleased with what they saw. De T o cqueville considered the women
walking along the streets of Albany to be "well turned out"; Busch
thought that Kentucky horsewomen dressed "in modish costume"; and
Hungarian travelerTheresa Pulszky judged women standing at the doors
1
oflonghouses in the Alleghenies of the 8 50S to be " elegantly" dressed.34
During the 1 8 40s, the German observer Friedrich Gerstacker pro­
nounced that women "even of the lowest classes . . . were simply but
tastefully dressed." During a Fourth of July celebration, he was startled
to learn that the women changed their dresses fo ur or five times between
noon and the f o llowing morning. He sensibly concluded that since
women had little chance to display their wardrobes they had to seize
any opportunity to do.35 Other commentators mentioned Sunday
church services as the occasion on which most fr ontierswomen flaunted
their appare1.According to the English traveler FrancesTrollope in 1832,
women attended church in "full costume." Edward Montule agreed that
Sunday was indeed an important day, sartorially speaking, on most f r on­
tiers. He explained that" confined within the small, cleared spaces in the
midst of this wilderness, they impatiently await Sunday , the only day
when they can see each other, and be seen; therefore, they make the
most of the occasion."36
After commentators finished with attractiveness and dress, they
turned their attention to more substantial questions. One of these con­
cerned how western women f a red at the hands of reputedly rough and
unpolished western men and what their treatment might indicate about
the position of women in western society. Gender apparently influenced
commentary to a considerable extent. European men were generally
impressed that western women received a great deal of courtesy and
respect f r om western men, but claimed that this was due to the charac­
ter of women themselves. For instance, Charles Sealsfield believed that

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