Page 76 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

CHAP E T R TwO

U narguably , most onlookers f a iled to address the basic issue raised
by Martineau and T r ollope, of whether men's chivalry toward women
stemmed from a deep, lasting esteem. Instead, most observers assumed
that polite treatment connoted respect. Consequently, many travelers,
men and women alike, were impressed by the safety with which a
woman could travel over all parts of the W e st.46 In 1845, f o r example,
Prussian traveler Friedrich von Raumer emphasized that women could
travel alone through the "whole country" because even those men who
were rough with other men extended courtesy to women. Gerstacker
similarly maintained that " often one will see young girls and women
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undertake long journeys alone . . . W e know here in the f o rest of noth­
ing more cowardly and mean than the mistreatment of a woman."47
These observations were problematic in that European travelers
toured America f o r a short time and derived their opinions regarding
women f r om limited contact on steamboats and stagecoaches. Thus, they
drew conclusions f r om superficial evidence rather than delving deeper
into women's situations. Consequently, steamboat and stagecoach sto­
ries regarding the preferential treatment of women became legendary.
A Norwegian traveler of the 1 8 40S described one captain's table as
having empty chairs that separated the ladies and the captain fr om the
male passengers.48 A French traveler recalled a steamboat captain who
brandished a kitchen knife at a passenger who had directed a mild curse
toward a lady. 49 That "ladies" did not always live up to their genteel rep­
utation, however, was demonstrated by an incident in which two steam­
boat gamblers, having decided to fight with only gun butts in deference
to the ladies present, were cheered on by these "ladies" who climbed on
chairs and tables to get a closer view. 5 0
On stagecoaches, gentlemanly behavior also repeatedly assumed
extreme proportions. In 1 8 57, Hungarian traveler John Xantus was
amazed to learn that a filled stagecoach stopped f o r a woman; the last
man to board got off and waited f o r the next coach, which could take
a week to arrive, or proceeded by f o ot. Xantus had difficulty believing
that the man involved did not grumble, but acted as though giving up
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his seat was the most natural thing in the world 5 I Another male trav­
eler told of a stage journey through a heavy rain, during which a
Houston merchant held an umbrella over a woman, protecting her but

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